Dreamer's Throne

Before the wound could close, Cynen's flaming fist slammed into it, causing the troll to shriek in agony as its thick leg snapped. Cynen's fist had struck bone, and the power behind her fist crushed it into pieces. Though they had never worked together before, Gero and Cynen coordinated instinctively. The troll's thick skin was largely immune to blunt force, but particularly vulnerable to Gero's quick slices. As she opened up wounds, Cynen followed behind, slamming fire-laden punches into each of the gaps Gero's sword created.

Trolls were naturally on the upper end of the lighting stage, and their absurd healing ability made them almost impossible for a team of less than twenty lighting stage awakened to take down. As shapers, however, Gero and Cynen had no issue with them. And it wasn't long before the first finally fell. As it did, Garret felt a wave of anger washing over him. It wasn't his anger, that much was clear, but rather an outraged mental roar from deep in the noble's district. It carried with it a promise of gruesome death, and the faint stench of sickness and disease.

Looking around, Garrett saw the Goblin Army starting to scatter, and realized that morning was soon to come. They had made it about halfway to the palace, but the remaining distance would be much harder to cross. They had to steer clear of the animated armor that lay to the northwest, which meant edging into the territory controlled by the Rotting Tongue of Wen. Garrett knew nothing about Wen, or the Great Ruler who usurped his power, but he did know that he had just made an enemy, and rather than try to avoid it, he was inclined instead to embrace it.

It took another hour before the fighting finally stopped, and the last of the Goblins were killed. Garrett didn't move the entire time, constantly on alert, in case the battlefield changed. When the final blade had struck down, Garrett called everyone back. There were more than a few wounded, and there had even been a couple casualties, who would wake up the following day with terrible headaches, having lost a chunk of their mental energy. Thankfully, with rest and a little bit of work, it was something that could be restored, allowing them to come back and fight once more in the dream. As everyone gathered around, clearly exhausted from the fight, Garrett addressed them.

"Well done. It was an impressive fight against a dangerous foe, and has proven to me once again just how powerful you all are. When we set out on this expedition, we didn't know exactly what would happen. We didn't know if we would end up facing an enemy, or whether we would just have a smooth trip. One thing is for certain, however, and that is that if we wish to make progress, we have no choice but to fight."

Though they had thrown themselves into the beginning of the battle with excitement, Garrett's words brought looks of concern to the awakened dreamers. The fight had been brutal and dangerous, and the thought of repeating it didn't necessarily sit well with them. Garrett understood this full well, however, and had some good news.

"The morning is coming, and we will soon leave the dream. But tomorrow night will come again and we have been given a new mission. Rather than heading straight for the palace, we'll be heading south towards a new target, one that, once dealt with, will break the backs of the goblin army and prevent them from bothering us ever again. Additionally, the Dreamer on the Throne has seen our valiant effort, and will deploy additional forces to help us. This is our first campaign, and while fighting this sort of battle in the dream is new to all of us, we will be victorious."

With those words, the first rays of sun peeked up over the horizon, washing away the dream, and sending the awakened dreamers back to the waking world. Taking a deep breath as he returned once more to his bed, Garrett immediately sent messages to Delrisa and Isabelle, commanding them to begin moving their forces into position so as to assist the following evening.

Under the persistent efforts of the flower ghouls, nearly the entirety of the crypts had been absorbed into their territory, and they were beginning to expand into the sewers that ran underneath the city. There was a main sewer line that ran across the river and connected to the sewer system used by the nobles. It was well guarded, however, so rather than have the flower ghouls pass through it, Garrett commanded them to start digging a second tunnel underneath it.

It crossed the river at the low bridge, and then ran southwest under one of the main thoroughfares in the noble district. It would take a few days for the flower ghouls to complete their work, but Garrett was confident that one day would be enough to get across the river, which was all that really mattered. Under his concentrated efforts over the last four months, the flower ghouls had exploded in population, gathering close to twenty nest stones, which they had then fed the nigh-endless waves of undead into.

The sea of mental stars that showed each of the flower ghouls under the city was so bright that it looked like he was sitting in the midst of a sea of stars when he sat on the dreamer's throne, and now they began to surge toward the low bridge. By the time the awakened recovered their mental strength and jumped back into the dream that evening, Garrett was determined to have a second army on the other side of the river. About mid-morning, Gero arrived, looking around as if worried someone might see her. She entered the inn and asked for Garrett, and was soon ushered back into his office, where he was completing the day's bookwork.

"I heard you had an exciting time last night," Garrett said, as soon as she walked in. This caused Gero to smirk as she took a seat across from him.

"It was certainly something,” Gero said, staring at Garrett, “and as you've probably guessed, that's why I'm here."

Ringing the bell on his desk, Garrett gestured for her to continue. After a moment of indecision, Gero leaned forward.

"I feel like I need to understand better what I've actually gotten myself into. I've always known there were monsters in the city, but an entire army of them? And from the sounds of it, there's going to be more tonight. So I want to understand. What is this?"

Just then, the door opened and Francis entered with a bottle of wine and two glasses, then poured out the wine for Gero and Garrett. Waiting until Francis had left the room, Garrett took a sip of his wine and cocked his head to the side.

"You could have asked the dreamer.”

“Listen, I've run an organization long enough to know that if my people bothered me for every little thing they didn't understand, I'd kill them myself. Why would I go to the boss when I have you?"

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"A fair point," Garrett said, a ghost of a smile flashing across his face.

He closed his eyes and remained silent, only his lips moving ever so slightly, almost as if he was speaking to someone in his mind. While she waited, Gero tasted the wine and then, finding it to her liking, drank the whole glass before filling it once more. Taking a deep breath, Garrett looked at Gero.

"The Dreamer on the Throne is a Great Ruler, one of a few in this city. Great rulers are beings who can control or bring benefits to individuals who exist in the dream. Each has a different power, a different strength, and gathers those desirous of the same sort of strength to them. The Dreamer on the Throne, however, is a little bit different than most of the other great rulers that you're going to encounter. First, they tend to be monsters, and the people who serve them are the same. Now, that isn't to say that the Dreamer on the Throne doesn't have monsters. It's just that he understands how to bring Awakened into the dream world as well. As he expands his territory in this city, he is recruiting Awakened to join his cause. Most of the monsters that you see in the dream do not exist in the waking world. They are beings created from mental energy, the same energy that is generated by a soul spark."

Placing his glass down on the desk, Garrett tapped the center of his chest with two fingers.

"This is why, when you slay one of those monsters, its energy is, in part, absorbed into your soul spark, improving your stage. I'm sure you felt it last night, that as you cut the monsters down, your soul spark grew more defined."

Taking a deep breath, Gero nodded.

"That's part of the reason I'm here," she said. "I've never felt anything like it before, and I want to know, is it safe? We're not going to someday transform into those monsters, are we?"

Chuckling, Garrett shook his head.

"No, absolutely not. Monsters are monsters. Awakened dreamers are Awakened dreamers.”

“You keep using that term, dreamers. What is that?"

"The mysterious fog world that you entered last night is known as the dream. Or, maybe this is actually the dream," Garrett said, looking around the room. "Regardless, those who can pass between them are known as dreamers."

Licking her lips, Gero wasn't able to hide the mix of excitement, anticipation, and nervousness that filled her.

"So what is it that he's actually trying to get us to do? I mean, what's our final objective? We were told to go to the palace, but now we seem to be diverting into the goblins' lands."

"Simply put, the Dreamer on the Throne didn't know if there was going to be another Great Ruler in that territory. And since there is, it must be eliminated. Tonight, you will re-enter the dream, continuing to put pressure on the goblins from the same place you ended. However, now that the Great Ruler in that territory has been identified and located, you'll be supported by other armies entering at other points into that territory to ensure that you don't end up just fighting an endless wave of goblins.”

“And Geller, he'll continue to provide strategy?"

"Yes," Garrett said.

"OK, so what about this Great Ruler? If he's as strong as the Dreamer on the Throne, then I'm afraid even me and Cynen working together won't be able to defeat him."

"You don't have to worry about that," Garrett said. "While you and Cynen will assist, along with a few other allies, Geller will do the main bulk of fighting against the Rotting Tongue of Wen."

"Is that the name of the Great Ruler we're facing?" Cynen asked, her expression showing her disgust.

"It is.”

“I guess it makes sense, given that they all had those nasty, rotting tongues," Gero muttered, "absolutely disgusting. All the more reason for us to eliminate them from our city."

With her questions answered, Gero took her leave, and for the rest of the day, Garrett did his best to contain his impatience. Unlike the last time, when he had angered Agma-Yoth and been forced to wait for his enemy to strike, this time Garrett was the aggressor, and he intended to bring the fight to a close as fast as he possibly could. He had no idea if the Rotting Tongue of Wen's powers extended into the waking world, and he didn't want to give it the time to find out. Instead, he was hoping to crush his opponent before it had any chance to respond.

When the sun fell and the dream began to flood the city, Garrett was ready. He had already instructed all of the awakened to be ready to go as soon as night fell. And as he felt them begin to enter, he took one last look over his preparations.

Everything's in place, and I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

Standing from the throne, Garrett's figure blurred, and he appeared in the large open square where the desperate battle had taken place the day before. Thanks to the map and the roar of rage at the death of the trolls, Garrett had roughly pinpointed where the actual territory of the Rotting Tongue of Wen was located. And now he intended to sweep toward it from three different directions.

The first and most obvious was the nearly 300 awakened dreamers who stood in front of him, ready to move on his command. The second was a horde of flower ghouls who had amassed under the city and carved a path across the river. The third were Delrisa and her necromancers, who were currently hiding in the hollow space of Isabelle's mirror. As soon as night had fallen, Isabelle had flitted across the city and would soon arrive at her location.

The goal was for Isabelle and Delrisa to provide a distraction while the flower ghouls and the awakened dreamers pinched the Rotting Tongue of Wen's forces from two different sides. When he got the message from Isabelle that she had arrived at the location Garrett had indicated, he lifted his hand, calling all of the awakened dreamers to attention.

"We move south," he said. "Cynen, Gero, with me."

This time, Garrett led the charge directly, piercing straight into the fog as they headed south towards a derelict hospital where the Rotting Tongue of Wen made its home. This was its actual territory, and it was this that Garrett would have to conquer.

Almost immediately, they began to encounter resistance, but as soon as he saw the Redcaps rushing towards them, Garrett waved his hand, and immense mental pressure smashed down on the creatures, obliterating them in an instant. The sight left the awakened dreamers in shock, and then, as Garrett commanded them to push forward, that shock transformed into a powerful feeling of momentum.

Letting out shouts and battle cries, they rushed forward, driving through the fog like a torrent. The goblins were clearly on alert as they began to converge on the awakened dreamers, and the fighting soon turned fierce. The Redcaps appeared endless in number, streaming out of the alleyways, jumping down from roofs, as they threw themselves against the awakened dreamers with a relentless fury, screaming as they hacked and slashed with their bone weapons. The drudge goblins seemed to have been infused with the same sort of fury as they stomped towards the battle.

Trolls and the six-legged worm creatures were not far behind, appearing from the fog like apparitions, they launched attacks against the dreamers. Garrett let his troops face the brunt of the battle, though he didn't hesitate to step in when necessary, especially to keep someone alive. He was discovering that his powers were more like a blunt fist than a sharp sword, and the amount of effort it took him to crush something with his aura was simply not cost-effective.