Dreamer's Throne

“It takes courage and wit to navigate, and the connections are often tenuous, but we not only know how to enter this world, but we have been able to successfully bring many of these powerful artifacts back.”

Seeing that Garrett was just staring at him in shock, Chief Fellix nodded, his expression serious.

“I know, it sounds mad, but it’s true. We call it the dream world, because we can only enter at night, through certain mediums. Have you ever heard the legend about the other side of the mirror?”

Realizing he had leaned forward, Garrett blinked and straightened up.

“You mean like a mirror world where you can be pulled through by your reflection?”

“Yes, exactly. In many ways, this dream world is like that. It exists all the time, but we can only enter it at night, and through a reflective surface in our dreams. The problem is, like a dream, it is not safe. It is filled with terrifying monsters and curses. It is from that strange world that mysterious artifacts come. We don’t know what pulls them into our world, but when they do, our organization hunts them down, either destroying them, or if we can bring them under control, sealing them.”

“I… I had no idea that your group dealt with this… dream world,” Garrett said, biting his lip. “Is that what you’ve come to talk to me about? Joining you in finding artifacts from this world?”

“No,” Fellix leaned back and brushed some lint from his knee. “I’ve come to you because I think you’d be a good fit for a current thorny problem we have. There are not many nobles in the district under my control, so we rarely interact with them, but they are having a complicated… problem. And it is getting out of control. The problem is that they are not interested in cooperating with us. We are too coarse. You, however, look like you belong in that world. Plus, as an up and coming merchant, it would make sense for you to start rubbing shoulders with that set.”

“You’ve mentioned the problem twice, but haven’t said what it is.”

“And I won’t till you’ve agreed. It’s confidential.”

“Fair,” Garrett said, nodding. “Unfortunately, I’m quite busy at the moment, and I don’t have time to freelance for your organization. Between managing the Family and keeping my subordinates in line, I don’t have much free time.”

Standing up, Grant nodded and brushed off his hands.

“Then I guess this wraps up the conversation, doesn’t it? It was nice chatting with you—”

Before he could finish speaking, Henri interrupted him.

“I’d vote yes.”

“I’d vote yes as well,” Marta agreed.

“What? Are you serious?” Grant said, his hooded eyes opening wide. “How can you decide that after only a few minutes of conversation?!”

Holding up his hand to forestall the fight that was brewing, Chief Fellix chewed on his mustache for a moment and then nodded sharply.

“The votes have been cast. Garrett, if you would be willing, we would like to invite you to join our organization as a member. You asked earlier why we would request your help, but I only told half the story. The survival rate for those who experience a supernatural event is less than one out of ten. And once you have been touched by the world of the dream, there is no escaping it. Is like an infection that seeps into your soul, drawing you back time and time again.

“But while one mortal out of ten who encounter the dream survive, the odds of surviving a second encounter is even smaller. Maybe one out of twenty. And it gets worse from there. Yet you have survived four encounters. We can tell that the energy of the dream has completely covered your soul, but that just means you will not be able to avoid supernatural events from here on. You will be pulled into them like a ship being sucked into a whirlpool. While there is no guarantee that you’ll continue to survive, joining our organization will give you access to tools that should help your chances. Better chances than being hunted by invisible monsters that stalk dreams, at least. There are powerful forces in the dream, forces that would steal your very soul if you were not careful, and it will only be a matter of time before you become one of the victims.”

Rubbing his forehead, Garrett couldn’t help but sigh. The others seemed to see his action as a sign of fear, but Garrett was actually trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the whole thing.

I wonder, should I tell them that I’m that soul stealing monster that they’re so worried about? Wait, does this mean that they’ve seen the dream flowers in the dream? No, it can’t. If they had, they wouldn’t be talking to me about it, they would be organizing a witch hunt. Huh, I might have a real problem if I can’t get this organization under control quickly.

Taking a moment, Garrett made a show of centering himself and nodded.

“I’m not sure that I’m convinced, but maybe you could tell me more about your organization. What would joining it entail? I admit, I don’t relish the idea of being hunted by invisible monsters.”

A sneer flitted across Grant’s face, but the other three all smiled at Garrett, making him curious why Grant was so against him joining. Ignoring the blonde man, Chief Fellix began to outline how the exorcists worked.

“You might think that we’re a unified force, like the guard, but the reality is that we’re more like the adventurer’s guild. In fact, most of us were adventurers before we were tainted by the dream. I mentioned that the dream taints us, pulling us into it at every chance, right? Well, rather than run from it, our seniors banded together to proactively fight the influence, hoping to spare others what we have experienced. But we are all still independent, and groups are put together based on skills, rather than being set. If you were to join, you would get the perks of being associated with the guild, would get a badge that holds a considerable amount of sway, would have access to our banks and suppliers, and would be able to request assistance from us.”

Waiting for Chief Fellix to continue, Garrett’s eyebrows rose when the chief fell silent.

“And?” he prompted. “What do I have to do?”

“Ah, right. You would need to participate in at least one mission a year to keep your badge active, and you would need to provide assistance to other members. Within reason, of course.”

“What does assistance consist of?” Garrett asked, his eyes narrowing.

Looking slightly uncomfortable, Chief Fellix glanced at the other three exorcists as if hoping they would chime in, but none of them cared to speak up, leaving him to answer the question.

“You know, nothing too serious. Occasionally, there are members who need a place to stay. Or might be temporarily short on coins. That sort of thing.”

“That’s it? I think that’s fine,” Garrett said, trying to match the guileless look in Chief Fellix’s eyes.

He knew full well that the assistance that Chief Fellix was talking about wouldn’t be so limited, but that actually suited Garrett just fine. The more exorcists that slept in his inn the better.

“I must admit, I have quite an interest in mysterious artifacts, and so your offer is appealing to me. And if I have really been infected by this dream energy that you talk about, it would be good to have some ways to defend myself.”

“Excellent! I had hoped you would agree so I took the liberty of bringing a badge with me,” Chief Fellix said, a wide smile lighting up his face. “Here, this is for you.”

Taking the badge and yellow arm band that the chief offered, Garrett nodded his thanks and put them on his desk.

“Can you tell me about this case that you were hinting at?”

“Of course,” Chief Fellix said, his expression growing serious as he got down to business. “I’ll give you the overview and Marta can fill you in on all the details. Three weeks ago, we got a report about an antique dealer who had lost a set of antique mirrors. They were a pair, and included a small hand mirror and a large desk mirror with the same motif around their edge of a woman combing her hair. There had been some myths about them so the dealer had wrapped them up, intending to talk to us about them, but by the time he got around to it, they were gone.

“Well, the large mirror was found a week later in a different antique shop and the daughter of Count Hotis bought it. Since then, there have been two disappearances. Marta?”

“Thank you chief. After Ms. Hotis bought the mirror, it seemed completely normal, but things started to get strange after a couple days. One night, Count Hotis was walking by his daughter’s room late at night and heard someone in his daughter’s room talking. His daughter and wife were traveling, and so, curious, he peeked into the room and saw his daughter’s maid in front of the mirror, talking to thin air. It unnerved him but he didn’t think anything of it until a few days later when his daughter’s maid suddenly vanished.

“Again, he thought nothing much of it, until, a week later, he found his daughter doing the same thing. This time, he had the sense to talk to her, but she just acted like he had imagined the whole thing. He was relieved, until she too vanished. For the last week, he has been mobilizing everyone he can to hunt for her, thinking that she was kidnapped. But we fear that the case is more than that, and that there is a connection to the dream world. We think that the mirror is a mysterious artifact, cursed with a spirit that is drawing people into the dream world.”

“That is troubling,” Garrett said, closing his eyes. “This count, is his wife alive?”

“Yes,” Marta answered.

“And this mirror, you said there are myths about it? Can you tell me what they are?”

“There have been reports that if you look in the mirror too long, a woman will appear and comb your hair for you.”

“That sounds harmless.”

“And then she strangles you.”

“Oh.”

Falling silent, Garrett mulled it over and then nodded.

“I can see why we might want to address this problem. Has anyone tried destroying the mirror?”

“No, but there is good reason for that,” Henri said, his raspy voice filling the space. “Cursed items contain the power of the dream, and breaking them in the real world simply spreads that power, infecting everything around it. We need to seal the mirror, if it is, in fact, a mysterious artifact. But…”

“But, Count Hotis is refusing to believe that it is, in fact, a mysterious artifact, or that anything supernatural has happened in his house.”

“Ah, yeah, that might pose a problem,” Garrett said. “But where do I come into this?”

Chief Fellix sat up and rubbed his hands together, as if he were about to explain to the team how to rob someone blind. Amused by the gesture, Garrett gave the chief his full attention and was not disappointed.

“I want to send you in as one of the Count’s guests. This is a terrible time for him because he is hosting a large, three day party to celebrate his recent ascension to his father’s old position, and will be opening up his estate. My thought was that you could use that time to slip in, accompanied by these three, and you could play guest while they work on the case. I can acquire an invitation through my connections, and it will give you full access to the property. You will be a merchant with connections in Port Reverie who got stuck in the city, and is making do by forming social connections. On the surface, Henri and Grant will be your guards, and Marta will be your assistant, while in reality, Henri will be in charge of the operation and everyone else will support him.”

“That sounds acceptable,” Garrett said. “However, I don’t think I can give more than a few days to this right now. Will this mission count toward that mission that I need this year?”

“It will.”

“Excellent. In that case, if you can give me a day or two, I’ll set all my things in order.”

“You have until the end of the week. The party starts on Friday, and goes through Sunday.”

After working out all the details, the exorcists got up and Garrett escorted them out. Most of the gang had gathered after Garrett had sent out the message, and the look he got from Henri when the grizzled man saw how many awakened were just hanging out in the inn’s great room, let Garrett know that he had shown a bit too much of his hand. Shaking his head, he went back to his office and opened his bottom drawer, taking out the silver mirror he had kept after his encounter with the necromancer.

Two blocks away, the exorcists were walking in silence, each occupied with their own thoughts, until Grant couldn’t stand it anymore.

“I don’t get it. Why did we just invite him? I could have played the part of a noble just fine!”

“Because you are a terrible actor,” Marta said, shredding Grant’s words mercilessly. “They’d see through you in an instant, and we’d not only get thrown out, but we’d get black balled. Again.”

“Because he will make a better ally than enemy,” Henri said, his voice as grim as his dour expression.

“What are you talking about? I could snap him in half with a finger,” Grant said, ignoring Marta’s words.

“You’d lose your finger, and then your head,” Henri responded, his voice managing to sound scornful despite his dry tone. “From the moment we walked into that inn, the spirits that have been following me went into hiding.”

“Bloody Elise?” Chief Fellix asked, stopping and staring at Henri like the veteran was the ghost.

When Henri nodded, Fellix groaned and put his head in his hands.

“Oh no.”

Even Grant was quiet as he absorbed the implications of what Henri was saying. Unable to think of another reason to retort, he let out a sigh and shrugged.

“Well, chief, what's done is done. But at least you can send the odd brigade his way. He’s got the coin to house them and he said he wouldn’t mind helping them out.”

Life surged back into Fellix’s eyes and he punched his hand, excitement on his face.

“That’s right. He agreed to it, and we won’t let him go back on it. Come on, let's go tell them where he lives!”