As the second day was coming to a close, Iceborn came to me with some items that I had asked him to bring me in order to make a magic dagger from his broken horn. I placed another card for the Akashic Order and went to my room at the inn to prepare the dagger. As I was fastening the horn into place, there was a knock at the door. The messenger had arrived.
I explained to him that I intended to infuse the dagger with a nightmare from my friend, and as such I would need the help of an Akashic to share the experience. He seemed to think this would be possible, and offered us some tea so that we could get to sleep easily. As we sipped the tea, another knock came at the door.
The messenger opened the door and turned to me to see if it was okay if “Heddro” came in.
“Oh, yes, let him in.”
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“No, it’s not what it looks like,” I laughed a little, “I’m enchanting a dagger for Iceborn and I need to share a nightmare with him in order to finish it.”
“Oh,” he said, not really sure what that meant. “Well, how long is that going to take?”
I turned to the messenger. He looked a little confused for a moment at being brought into the conversation. “It should only take a few hours.” Heddro looked depressed.
“You can stay, if you want,” I told him.
“No, it’s okay, I’ll just be…around…”
I felt bad for him as he left the room. I finished my tea and helped the messenger lay down runes around the bed. He had us both lie down together, each with a hand on the stone that he used to carry thoughts. In my other hand I held the dagger. He chanted as we drifted off to sleep.
The shift was sudden. I went from total relaxation to extreme anxiety as I was plunged into a fiery crypt with Iceborn. Mutilated bodies reached out to us, clawing and tearing at our flesh. He pulled me closer. He moved forward toward a giant fortress. I asked him if he knew this place, and he said it had never been there before. As we moved in, we found ourselves in darkness that burned like fire. I tied to move away from the burning, but it was everywhere. Nothingness was scorching.
Another violent shift brought us to the edge of some tribunal of devils. They argued loudly until one rose up above the others. The lesser devils addressed him as Asmodeus. My skin may have burned but a cold chill of needles crawled beneath. As he spoke to the devils, it was clear that he knew about the vacancy left by Erathis and that he was also much desiring the throne. As they debated the feasibility, his main challenger stood down and agreed to his demands. He was promptly pulverized with one heavy blow. The fact he had finally agreed was not the issue so much as the initial dissent, and this was to show others what happens when the boss doesn’t get his way.
I felt ill and couldn’t hold myself any longer, we both woke up. The messenger sat back looking totally horrified. Iceborn also looked confused.
“So this is what you see? When you sleep?” I asked.
“This was new to me,” he said.
“It didn’t come from my head, and I never told you about Erathis.”
“What do you mean?”
“What happened to me in the garden.”
“What did happen to you in the garden?”
“When I went to Lakemists, the Princess informed me that the followers of Erathis have been keeping a sort of pattern or equation that helps them determined the events that will take place. The only problem is that about the time we sealed the rift, the pattern fell apart and they can’t get it to add up. It’s broken.” I explained. “When I went to the garden, I met an avatar of Sehanine, and she told me that the reason the pattern doesn’t work is that Erathis is no longer the deity in charge. The seat is open now to be claimed by any god and is determined by which ever can amass the most followers. Which is why Tharizdun has been so desperate, why Tiamat has been on the move. And it looks like Asmodeus wants it now too.”
Everyone was stunned when I finished talking. I turned to the messenger whose jaw was on the floor.
“Owe me a few more?” I said jokingly. There was a whimper. Not from the messenger or Iceborn, but coming from under the bed. My heart sank. “Oh no. Come on out, we’re safe now.” Lomweg crawled out, eyes wide, shaking. “We’re home again, we don’t have to go back there.”
“Promise?”
“Well, I can’t promise. And for all I know that might come here. But for now, we’re okay.”
The dagger was still in my hand, it was smoking and smelled like sulfur. I handed it to Iceborn, who examined it. “This is excellent.”
“Each day you can use that dagger to inflict your nightmare on an enemy. They will see and feel what we did. Just be sure you mean to kill them, because that nightmare had some very important information that you don’t want getting to the wrong people.”
Iceborn nodded in agreement.
“You and Kriv are the only people that know about my nightmares.”
“Lucky us.”
