Dreamer's Throne

Gorn’s breath was ragged as he tried to squeeze the last drops of energy out of his soul spark. He had enough juice to stop one more attack, and at least a dozen feet to go. With a sinking heart, he watched one of the ghouls scamper up the wall above him and then drop down, its powerful legs raking at his head. At the same time another ghoul was approaching from lower down, its claws reaching out to disembowel him. Only able to slow one down, Gorn opted to throw his energy at the ghoul above his head, while also contorting his body to the side to try and avoid the claws stabbing toward his stomach.

Hunt.

The word seemed to hang in the air as a surge of energy that came from the depths of his mind shrouded Gorn. Unlike his own energy, this energy felt ephemeral, like it couldn’t quite be grasped. Yet its impact was intense as the ghoul who was tangled in Gorn’s threads let out a shriek of pain and terror. Flashes of color dyed the world around Gorn, giving everything in his view a faint, dream-like sense.

Behind him, the gang members who had come with him surged forward, pressing toward the crack as their faces took on a faint haze. A rainbow of color flashed across their eyes, but to Obe it looked as if they had just gone crazy and decided to throw themselves at the enemy. Shouting for everyone to get back, Obe felt like he was about to go insane. Gorn was fighting for his life, and now everyone else was losing it.

In the Dream the situation was completely different. As soon as Garrett had given his command, every single Dream Flower in the tunnels under the city manifested above their host’s heads, spreading their rainbow glow throughout the tunnel. Petals waving, the flowers wiggled forward, sending tendrils out toward the six ghouls. Each flower carried an ethereal beauty and the ghouls seemed entranced by the sight of them, though from the way they were licking their lips, Garrett wasn’t sure he’d like the way that enchantment manifested.

Still, it served as enough of a distraction that Gorn was able to finish escaping from the crack. Falling to the ground, his breath coming in big gulps, he stared in confusion at the ghouls, who had suddenly slowed. Invisible, to him, was the Dream Flower that called his head home, blocking the crack, its roots stretching across the gap. Watching from the throne, Garrett was just as surprised as Gorn to see that his attempt had actually worked.

He hadn’t anticipated such a stark response from the ghouls, but it was clear that they could not only see the Dream Flowers, but also interact with them. Even more than interacting with them, the ghouls were currently staring at the flowers like they wanted to eat them. The humans in front of them were forgotten and the ghoul’s gazes were fixed on the flowers. With a flash of insight, Garrett suddenly made a connection.

Wait, ghouls often target hearts and brains, does that mean they’re actually consuming mental energy? If that’s the case, no wonder they’re attracted to the Dream Flowers.

Like soldiers arranging for battle, the Dream Flowers formed up, stretching out to join Gorn’s three-blossomed Dream Flower that blocked the middle of the passage. Below it, the three blossoms Reeve carried crawled forward, sealing the last bit of the passage that wasn’t covered. Slightly smaller than Gorn’s, Reeves’ flowers weren’t quite as bright either, a testament to the advantage an Awakened host carried. With no way to attack, the flowers simply held their position, creating a rainbow-colored wall of roots, stems, and petals between the gang and the ghouls.

Retreat.

This time, Garrett’s command was to Gorn and the others. The most likely outcome of the impending clash between the flowers and the ghouls was a complete massacre, but keeping the gang members alive was way more important. Even if it meant he wouldn’t be able to make use of them anymore. Garrett had no idea what would happen if a host lost their flower, but at this point it was too late to care. Staggering to his feet, Gorn called to the rest of the gang, motioning them to follow him.

“Fall back! Fall back!”

Running after him, Obe caught up quickly, his expression tense and full of confusion.

“What did you do?”

“Huh?”

“The ghouls,” Obe said, looking back over his shoulder. “How did you stop them?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Gorn gasped. “They just stopped on their own.”

As they were rushing back to the room and the safety of the large metal gate, Garrett was still watching the tense standoff between the flowers and the ghouls. There had been a dozen gang members that came with Gorn and Obe, which meant there were thirteen flowers blocking the path. If they had been fighters, Garrett would have known how to direct them, but as it was, he had no sense of how the Dream Flowers could hunt, so all he could do was watch. Slowly shifting, the smaller, single flowers moved forward. There were only four of these, as the rest of them carried two flowers on their stems. All of them, however, had been nourished by their host’s mental energy and their petals glistened with rainbow light.

The two largest flowers maintained their positions, even as the rest of the flowers crept forward, their roots crawling along the walls like wriggling worms. Even though he was on the same side as the Dream Flowers, Garrett almost turned Observe the Dream off because the sight creeped him out so much. Firming up his heart, he continued to watch, paying careful attention for the moment when the two sides would engage with each other.

It happened faster than he anticipated, causing him to jump. One of the ghouls darted forward, its mouth opening incredibly wide as it bit down on a flower. As fast as the ghoul was, the flower was no less quick, and by the time the ghoul’s teeth had pierced into two of the petals, the Dream Flower had wrapped its roots and other petals around the monster’s jaw. Blackish blood began to spill as the roots dug into the monster’s skin, trying to stab deep into its cheek and neck. With a shriek, the ghoul ripped at its face, trying to cut the flower free, despite tearing open its own cheek.

Practically split in half, the Dream Flowers started to wither away, but not before the two halves began to absorb the ghoul’s life force. With every second that passed the flower brightened, some of the damage starting to heal. Letting out another shriek, the ghoul ground its face against the wall as it tried to remove the remains of the flower, but that put it in range of another flower that latched onto its wrist.

Enraged by their brethren’s suffering, the other ghouls all charged into the midst of the flowers, ripping, biting, and tearing at them. Yet getting close only increased their suffering as the flowers went on the offensive. Oblivious to pain, the flowers stuck to their attackers, doing their best to suck up the ghouls’ life force before they fell. The damage they were taking was tremendous as their stalks and petals fell apart under the monster’s claws, but despite that they clung to life.

It wasn’t long before the first of the flowers fell, causing one of the lights in Garrett’s mind to wink out. He felt a stab of pain through his mental connection, but it faded quickly. The man who the Dream Flower had been attached to wasn’t so lucky, his body falling to the ground as an excruciating headache slammed into him. Seeing him fall, Reeve grabbed one of the fallen gang member’s arms and hauled him up.

“Help me carry him!”

Stumbling forward, the gang members ran into the main tunnel and charged toward the gate, dragging their fainted companion along with them. It didn’t take them long to reach the gate, but just as they were passing through another member of the gang collapsed, a trickle of blood dripping from his nose. With no idea what was happening, Gorn slammed the gate shut once everyone was through and threw the heavy bolt, locking the door.

“We’ve got to get up into the inn! We can barricade the entrance from there!”

“Be careful! Someone else fell!”

Fear coursed through the group’s veins as they climbed the ladder into the basement of the inn, their hands clammy with sweat. When another person fainted while on the ladder, nearly knocking everyone below him down, Obe started to grow truly worried and shared a glance with Gorn.

Block the entrance to keep the ghouls out, but keep everyone down here until this passes.

Listening to the voice in his heart, Gorn pulled the last few men up the final rungs of the ladder and then he and Obe moved the large millstone back over the entrance. While Obe chained it in place, Gorn moved to the exit of the room. To his astonishment, Reeve was already blocking it, and as they shared a glance Gorn could tell they had the same idea. Holding his dagger out, he stopped one of the men who was trying to push past him.

“Back up, Ereg, we’re staying in here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Calm down,” Reeve said, tugging on Ereg’s arm. “Look at Vol.”

The mention of the first of their companions who fell gave Ereg pause and he glanced at the still-unconscious Vol.

“We don’t know what’s causing this, but what if we go up and spread it to the rest of the gang?”

“Reeve is right,” Gorn said, his gaze deadly. “No one is leaving this room until this passes.”

“What… what if they’re turning into ghouls?”

Unsure who had said it, Obe shot a glare at the crowd and lifted his axe, taking up a position next to Gorn. Worried that the situation would get out of hand, Reeve quickly spoke up.

“None of them are dead. They’re just knocked out. No one is turning into a ghoul!”

While all of this was happening, Garrett was still watching the flowers. All of the single flowers had been destroyed, and even as he watched the first of the double flowers fell, consumed by one of the ghouls. Many of the other flowers were in just as bad shape, but despite their precarious situation, they never once stopped trying to suck the life out of the ghouls. As weak as they were individually, it was clear they were starting to have an impact as they worked together.

One of the ghouls, the first one to attack, was now limply crawling on the ground, his already thin frame reduced to nothing but bones. Trying to pull one of the flowers off of his side, he contorted his body and rolled to the side, entering the range of Reeve’s flower, which pounced instantly. The thick roots of the flower stretched out and wrapped around the ghoul’s head, stabbing deep into its eyes. Shaking wildly as the ghoul struggled to free itself, the flower pulled life force from the monster in great gulps, its glow brightening visibly.

With the first of the six ghouls falling prey to the flowers, the other ghouls seemed to grow even angrier, throwing themselves at the flowers with reckless abandon. The fighting was fast and furious, and soon Gorn’s Dream Flower was dragged into the fight as well, latching onto one of the ghouls and trying to suck the life from it. With a white-knuckled grip on the Dreamer’s Throne, Garrett watched as the flowers continued to fall, wincing with each flower that died. His only consolation was that two of the ghouls had already fallen and another was almost dead.

Yet no matter how fast the Dream Flowers sucked up the ghoul’s life force, it wasn’t fast enough to balance out the damage they were taking. With a sinking feeling, Garrett realized that without something to break the balance, there was no way for the flowers to win. Unwilling to simply conceded defeat, his face hardened into an ice-cold mask.

Consume.

His command echoed through the dream to the flowers in the tunnel, and all of them started to shift, their roots tying together. It took a bit of time, and while they were moving they continued to suffer under the claws of the ghouls, but Garrett’s order was absolute. Slowly, they converged, all targeting a single ghoul. Completely covered, the ghoul writhed, its flesh withering at visible speed. Sensing what the flowers were attempting to do, the other ghouls charged and began to attack, not caring that they were slaughtering their companion as well.

Consume!

Again the flowers heard Garrett’s command and they abandoned any sense of self preservation, instead pouring themselves through their connection. Every ounce of life force they extracted was sent toward the largest of the flowers, and even some of their own. Suddenly a large root snaked out and grabbed one of the attacking ghouls and pulled it in. More roots wrapped themselves around its side and back before reaching out to entangle its head. Shredding a root, one of the two remaining ghouls lunged forward when it fell, its legs captured. Two minutes later, the four ghouls and all the Dream Flowers were a tangled mess of limbs, claws, and shimmering petals.

In the inn’s basement, everyone apart from Reeve and Gorn had collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious. Obe, Gorn, and Reeve stared at each other, completely terrified that they would be next to fall. Time ticked slowly by, and suddenly one of the gang members groaned and woke up.

“Vol! Are you okay? What happened?”

Blurry eyed and still reeling, Vol couldn’t make heads or tails of what had happened, and it was only after Reeve explained the situation that he realized almost everyone else had fallen unconscious as well.

Deep in the tunnels, a strange sight was taking place. A group of dying ghouls were twisted together, their limbs contorted into impossible positions, as if they were trapped in an invisible net. Snapping weakly at the air, the ghouls suddenly began to drag themselves along a thin crevasse, using their formidable physical strength to claw their way back toward their nest. As Garrett watched in shock, he saw them slowly traverse the path, eventually reaching their nest and burrowing into the pile of bodies where they had sat before. Burrowing into the pile, the ghouls vanished from Garrett’s view, and with a shiver, Observe the Dream turned off.

The two Dream Flowers that had tangled with the ghouls were still active, according to the weakly flickering lights in Garrett’s mind, but whenever he tried to sense them his mind would shake as if there was something in the way. Mentally drained, Garrett didn’t have the energy to figure out what was going on and instead he fell out of the Dream and collapsed into a deep sleep, completely missing the figure standing right outside his room and the crimson eye that peered at him through a crack in the door.