Dreamer's Throne

Garrett didn’t have anything pressing, so once the dreamers left Dreamer’s Rest, he returned to the throne, taking his seat and focusing on his connection with Viper. It was a strange thing to ride along with his guardian, but Garrett had been practicing and was now quite adept at controlling Viper. Rather than control his guardian completely, he opted to use a light touch, issuing commands almost like he was controlling a character in a game. The advantage of this sort of control was that it allowed him to maximize Viper’s impressive coordination, speed, and reflexes since he wasn’t overwriting muscle memory by accident while still being able to direct Viper’s actions closely.

In the dark street of the dream, Viper opened his eyes and looked around, seeing the rest of the team gathered behind him. Slowly scanning the street, he looked for any sign of danger, but didn’t see anything. They were still right next to the inn, and ever since they had planted dream flowers further out it was getting rarer to see nightmares in this area.

“Ready?” Garrett asked through Viper’s mouth.

Once everyone confirmed that they were ready to go, he led the way to the north, his sword in hand. It made Garrett surprisingly nervous to walk around the dream without Dreamer’s Cloak active, despite the fact that he was riding along with Viper and had a full team backing him up. They walked up quiet streets until an intersection appeared in the distance and Maren called for them to stop while he went ahead to check out the situation. There was a three bloom flower planted in the center of the intersection, warding off the dense fog of the dream, and crowded around it were a few lesser nightmares. Watching them for a moment, Maren returned to the group and reported what he had seen.

“There are three nightmares. Two of those small ones that take different shapes, and something that looks like tons of black dots.”

“Drudge Wraith and Creeping Horde,” Viper said, causing everyone to look at him. “Shouldn’t be a major problem.”

Trying to stay inconspicuous, the team moved forward, intending to finish off the three lesser nightmares, but when they had gotten within fifty feet, two new lesser nightmares suddenly rushed out of the shadows, heading for the waving dream flowers. Seeing the large swarms crawling over, Garrett suddenly had a bad feeling and he commanded Viper to lift his sword, intending to charge and attack. Before he could, the three Creeping Hordes suddenly pressed together, their bodies warping and twisting.

This was a new thing for everyone, including Garrett, and as Viper began to dash forward, the three nightmares stretched and flopped over, picking up dirt, mud, and bits of debris from the ground. Under the team’s astonished eyes, sludge slopped off of the new nightmare and it began to surge toward Viper like a gelatinous mud monster.

You have observed a Shambling Mire, a nightmare that drowns its victim’s minds in a flood of negative emotion, driving them to an eventual death as their mental energy is consumed. You have gained 1 EXP.

You have observed lesser nightmares evolving into a standard nightmare. You have gained 1 EXP.

EXP: 87/160

At the last second, Viper slipped to the side, his silver blade drawing a crescent along the side of the nightmare as he dodged the thick tendrils of sludge that tried to wrap him up. The monster recoiled in pain, trembling with anger and fear, but even as it did so, new tendrils sprang out as it shifted its path to chase after him. Dancing backward, Viper’s blade hacked out again, cutting through one of the tendrils that reached for his feet. The rest of the party was only now catching up with the rapidly changing situation, and as Viper ducked another attack, they sprang into action.

Pax let out a loud shout and charged the sludge monster, her axe lifted high over her shoulder. She had crossed half the distance when Kinsley’s dart of flame shot past her like an arrow and dug into the nightmare. It punched into the thick sludge that made up the Shambling Mire’s body, exploding fiercely just under the surface of the monster’s skin, splattering sizzling drops of nightmare over the street and Pax.

“Hey! Watch it!”

“Sorry, sorry!”

Ignoring the stinging pain, Pax hacked out with her axe, laying out a deep wound in the Shambling Mire’s side, and forcing it to turn its attention away from Viper, who stepped close and sent his darting blade into the nightmare’s back a dozen times. Still, his stabs were not as dangerous as Pax’s heavy swings so the Shambling Mire just recoiled as it threw itself at Pax, managing to hit her with one of its sludge covered tendrils. Immediately, a terrible wave of fear, anxiety, pain, and despair flooded through Pax’s mind, nearly causing her to drop her axe and sit down. The overwhelming desire to sit down and cry pressed down on her mind, and the only reason she didn’t was the glow from her dream flowers that fought back against the invasive thoughts.

The instantaneous battle in her mind sapped her energy as the flowers mustered their defense against the shambling mire’s attack, and a deep tiredness began to fill her limbs, as if she was just on the cusp of falling asleep, causing her to stumble to the side. Seizing the opportunity, the Shambling Mire ignored the damage it was taking from Viper and tried to wrap another tendril around Pax, but a bright spark of light drifted over, sinking into Pax, bringing a wave of energy that allowed her to plant her feet and swing her axe with two hands, lopping off the nightmare’s limb, freeing herself from its negative influence.

Behind the fight, Estel was standing in the street, her hands held together like she was praying, and a thick white light shining all around her. It was from this bright light that she had sent the spark of mental energy out to save Pax, causing the light around her to fade substantially. Next to her, Maren watched the dark streets nervously with a short sword in hand, watching for any movement that would indicate that there were more nightmares.

Trembling in pain, the shambling mire pulled back, its attack blocked by Estel’s timely intervention, and before it could recover, it was torn apart by another flame dart that mixed with the silver flashes of Viper’s blade. Without a sound, the Shambling Mire sagged, its gelatinous body losing its shape as it melted away into the dream. Faint light drifted out of it, absorbed by the flowers on the team’s masks. Traces of the mental energy sank into their bodies like a cool wave, sharpening and shaping their soul sparks, while the majority of the energy trickled through the connection Garrett had with the masks, arriving a moment later at the Dreamer’s Throne where he sat.

You have slain a Shambling Mire. You have gained 4 EXP.

EXP: 91/160

Whoa. That’s a lot more than I expected. It must be because the nightmare is a bigger one.

Even as the feeling of growth enveloped his soul spark, Garrett commanded Viper to eliminate the other nightmares, not wanting to risk allowing another group of nightmares to morph into something bigger. He had no idea if all of the nightmares would turn into a Shambling Mire, or if there were other larger nightmares that they could transform into, but both Pax and Estel were tired from the fight, and Kinsley was breathing heavily as well. Asher clearly had the same idea as he did, and together, Viper and Asher cut down the remaining drudge wraiths.

“What was that?” Pax asked, her eyes searching the ground where the Shambling Mire had melted away as she leaned on her axe.

“Shambling Mire,” Viper said, flicking his blade out of habit. “Three of the Creeping Hordes combined to turn into it.”

“I saw, but still can’t believe it,” Pax replied with a snort.

“It tells us something,” Maren chimed in, causing everyone to look over at him. “We’ve fought against groups of three Drudge Wraiths before, so it’s possible that they don’t combine, or that they combine at a different number, but we can be sure that different sorts of lesser nightmares won’t combine together. There was a Creeping Horde and two Drudge Wraiths there to begin, but the combination happened when three Creeping Hordes gathered.”

“That’s a great observation,” Viper said, nodding. “Estel, your support was well timed. How did you do that?”

“It’s my awakened ability,” she replied with a shrug. “I can sacrifice some of my own strength to give it to someone else.”

“Thank you, it saved me,” Pax said.

Looking around, Viper gazed at each of the party members in turn as he spoke, his raspy voice soft in the darkness of the dream.

“Overall, great teamwork, everyone. We just faced our first real threat and we came out on top. Up until this point, we have only had to face lesser nightmares like the Drudge Wraiths, Seeking Wraiths, and the like. But believe me when I say that this monster we just fought is only the beginning. There will undoubtedly be other nightmares that are just as dangerous, if not more dangerous. But if we keep our wits about us, we can overcome them.”

Straightening up, Pax slapped her chest with her large hand, indicating that she was ready for action once again. Despite her positive attitude, it was clear that she was tired, so Viper took her position at the front while Pax marched alongside Asher and Estel. Continuing on their way, they made their way through the dark, fog filled streets, keeping a sharp eye out for any danger that might spring out at them. Their goal was the butcher’s plant on Heifer street, and after a full night of cautious walking, they had arrived there and managed to eliminate the wandering nightmares they found in that area.

Sending the team out into the dream had turned out to be a wonderful idea, as, on top of the six experience points he had gained from their first encounter, the team had farmed a total of thirteen more experience points as they worked to ensure that none of the lesser nightmares were able to combine together. Once he was sure that the area around the butcher’s shop was safe, Garrett, using Viper as a medium, began to plant dream seeds around the meat processing plant, using up three of the experience points that he had earned from killing nightmares around the building.

Once the dream seeds had been established, he prompted Viper and the others, having them put what remained of their energy into the dream flowers, causing them to sprout. Garrett’s goal was not to take over the meat processing plant in one night, as the team just didn’t have the energy for that, and he could vaguely sense that there were some stronger nightmares lurking inside the meat processing plant, but rather to establish a new location that the team could use to enter the dream, saving them the long and danger filled trip between Dreamer’s Rest and this location.

The plan was to have the team breach the plant the next night, clearing the nightmares inside, and finishing creating the dream flower perimeter. At the same time, the dream flowers that were currently growing on the outside of the building could hunt the lesser nightmares that were attracted to their scent, feeding Garrett and continuing to add to their blooms. Now, more than ever, Garrett couldn’t wait to unlock the next level of his Dream Seed ability so that the flowers could begin to propagate themselves.

It had been a successful night, and as the team left the dream, first returning to Dreamer’s Rest, and then waking up, Garrett disconnected from Viper. He had enjoyed getting to ride along with Viper, and ideas were starting to fill his mind as he thought about how best to make progress on the many projects he was trying to balance. Unfortunately, his planning was interrupted shortly after breakfast as Carraway arrived to talk to him and Ryn. The merchant had continued to lose weight since their first encounter, and far from the fat, greasy man they had originally met with, he was now lean, sharp, and fanatical.

“Garrett! Great to see you,” Carraway said, sweeping into the room like a force of nature.

Garrett put a smile on his face, but he was starting to realize where Ryn was picking up her bombastic motions. That understanding was reinforced when Carraway slapped his desk and laughed loudly.

“You wouldn’t believe it, but I’ve figured out when the gates will re-open. We have a week and a half. The problem is, the export tax is going to be going up next week, and martial law isn’t going to be lifted, so there will be next to no way to get goods out of the city without lining the duke’s pockets. That’s good for us in that it means selling soap in the city will still be the more profitable option, but we’re going to take a big loss on many of our other goods. Even worse, we are going to get scalped trying to import anything into the city.”

Holding up his hand for Carraway to pause, Garrett let his smile fade, returning to his normal, calm expression.

“Nice to see you too, Carraway. I have some thoughts. First, we don’t need to export anything. There are more than enough customers in the city. We just need to repackage and price the goods for customers with less average purchasing power. Different demographics have different ways of seeing the world, and so we adjust accordingly.”

“That’s targeted marketing, right?” Ryn asked from a chair near the desk.

“Correct. We build an ideal customer profile, and we focus on that customer exclusively.”

“That’s fine for now,” Carraway said, nodding, “but it will only work so long as we have goods. And the duke isn’t going to let us replenish any of them, which means we’re going to be running short soon.”

This time, Garrett’s smile was real. Taking out a map of the city, he tapped a spot close to the river where the Swamp Shark territory had been located.

“We’re currently in the process of absorbing this territory, and I need you to figure out who officially owns these warehouses. Once you do, we will be able to get you the goods, without paying the extra import tax. Oh, and I’ll need an introduction to some merchants who move goods through the swamp, rather than those that bring them overland.”

A slight frown wrinkled Carraway’s forehead before he realized what Garrett was talking about.

“Ah, you’ll be opening up a smuggling route. How will you manage that?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Garrett replied, shaking his head. “Just tell me, can you give me the introduction?”