Darkstalker's Dream
By Gilean - Wordsmith
My brother, Xenon Majere, awakened long before I did. I was only 7 when he awakened. We shared the same bedroom, and one night, I heard his breathing change. Then, he began to speak out in his sleep. At first, I was worried, for I thought that possibly he was suffering from the plague or something. However, as I listened to him speaking from within the dream my fear soon dissipated, for it was apparent he was dreaming of some place peaceful and kind. Much better than our small hovel in the country surrounding the castle. My worries now dissipated, I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
Upon waking the next morning, I could tell a change had come over my brother. Xenon was unusually bright and cheerful, something that was way too apparent. Today was the first day in five or more years that I had actually seen him smiling. Our chores usually left us down-trod, and restless, but today, he seemed like he could complete all his chores, mine, and still have enough energy left to go to the castle, and duel with half the king’s guard. Upon asking him what had happened, I was answered thus..
"Xenon, what’s happened? You seem, I dunno....happy today.", I asked.
He looked at me, and his face was shining with the light of a thousand suns. "Gilean, my brother, I have awakened!" Upon seeing my puzzled face, he continued. "You have talked with the sage Kal’Thor, has he ever mentioned the dream world?"
Thinking back upon my studies, I recalled Kal’Thor’s description of such a world. It was rumored a world full of hope and prosperity, where everyone was created equal, and race nor class was given special treatment. A person there is only what they make of themselves, not the legacy of their parent.
At the time, I could only believe that this WAS a dream..I had no hope of ever awakening, and I really didn’t believe in it. I just assumed it was one of Kal’s quirks, coming from his old age...but here was my brother, discussing it. My interest was now peaked.
"Yes, he and I have discussed it a few times.." I replied
"I went there last night. As soon as I fell asleep, I dreamt I was in this grand room. I felt my body take form around me...it was as if I was in another world" he continued joyfully.."Gilean, it’s WONDERFUL! There can never be anyplace like it here in this world."
He continued to tell me how he met many people there, talked with them, was show around, etc. He entered the dream peacefully, making friends quickly, and learning his way around. He told me of the houses, and dreamers, and mares, and before I knew it, it was early evening, and half our chores still stood before us.
"Xenon, please, tell me more of this later...but for now, we must hurry...father will be home soon!" I said, in a panicked voice.
His face fell, and all the joy that had been there suddenly dissipated. "Yes, Gil, I suppose you’re right". He picked up the barrel, and carried it off to the barn, and I left to the fields to gather the cattle. We were finishing up our chores just as father came over the rise near our house. He saw us finishing up our chores, and stood there on the rise, watching us.
"Whatcha boys doing, still working on yet chores?", he asked. He walked over near me, and slapped me. "Ye shoulda been done with them early this morning." He turned to Xenon, his eyes flaring. "You boys been wasting time today? Or have you been over to the Klett’s, visitin’ that hor of a daughter of theirs?"
"Father," Xenon replied.."The king’s messenger arrived in the middle of our chores, and requested us to join him. What could we do but accept? If we didn’t, we’d be kicked out of the kingdom!"
My father looked at him disbelievingly. "What would the king need the two of you for, ya worthless wretches?"
Xenon sighed. "It wasn’t the king...it was that idiotic son of his...our royal brat prince. He wanted some boys to come to the castle to play with him, and all of the city boys refused to. The little brat is rude and thankless. Today, we were used as targets while the brat prince practiced throwing balls of cow dung." He shivered appropriately at this point. "As soon as he was finished humiliating us, and dismissed us, we came home. So we wouldn’t offend mom with the smell, we bathed in the stream on the way home, and got changed, and continued on our chores."
Father looked quizzically at Xenon. I was afraid that he would see Xenon’s lie, and that we would be "taught a lesson", in my father’s words. But, after staring in my brother’s eyes for a full minutes, he replied.
"Well, he is a brat, isn’t he. I’ll march right up there tomorrow, and give the king a piece of my mind. I’ll show that ass that he can’t treat my family like.."
"Oh, no, father, it’s quite alright. Don’t complain, as we’d get kicked out of the kingdom, and that would be very difficult on mother."
Father appeared to give this some thought, and then replied. "Yeah, son, you’re right. Nuthin we kin do about it.". He got a solemn, and peaceful look on his face, and, for a minute, was the father I knew from childhood..the father that didn’t scare me. But, it was only a second, and the clouds of darkness covered his face again.
"Anyways, git inside when yer done. Your mum’s been fixin’ supper fer you two, and if’n ya ain’t there, I just might eat it. So hurry up." he growled, and continued inside.
For the next few weeks, I lay awake at night, and listened enviously to my brother in his dreams above me. I tried to listen, and pick up words, so I could ask him about them the next morning. Then, after chores, he would answer any questions that I put to him. He developed many friends in the dream, but the three that I kept hearing every night were Klass, Job, and Mikal. The four of them traveled all over Underlight together, adventuring, and combating mares. I heard endless stories of their escapades, and Xenon continued to dream peacefully.
Then, one night as I lay listening to my brother dream, the tone changed. He no longer made sounds of carefree and lighthearted fun. He just stopped, and there was utter silence for 4 minutes. I began to worry if he was dead, so I stood up, and looked at him on the bed above. His face was completely blanched, and he was silently whispering. I put my head near his, and made out.." no...leave us alone. no...go away...we did nothing to you... leave..now.....no go....go ...GO ...no....leave him al..no ..no ..NO..NO!!!!!" This last scream pierced the night, and woke everyone in the house up. Father flung open the door, and stared at the two of us.
"Xenon, what the hells the matter wit you, boy!??! There’s people tryin’ ta get some sleep here...some of us actually have to wirk, ye know.." Xenon laid there, comatose..and father walked toward him. Xenon slowly regained consciousness, and looked into father’s burning eyes.
"I...I..uh..I’m sorry father...I...I ..I just had a nightmare...that’s all."
Father backhanded him across the face, and my brother rolled with it, hardly seeming to notice the blow.
"See that it don’t happen again", father said as he walked out, slamming the door.
After he left, I turned to Xenon. "What happened, what’s wrong?" I asked. Xenon didn’t answer me, he just lay back down, and went back to his dream.
I lay down the rest of the night, but I never heard him say another word.
Upon waking the next morning, I once again questioned Xenon on what had occurred in the dream, but he wouldn’t answer me. He went through the motions of life for the next few weeks. He dreamt at night, but all I would hear is the occasional utterance, "I am Darkstalker." When I questioned him as to this, I would receive no answer either.
Then, many weeks after this occurrence, he pulled me aside during our chores, and began speaking in a choked voice.
"That night I had a nightmare, I lost three very dear friends of mine. You’ve heard of Klass, Job, and Mikal, I know. Well, we were hunting in the Cenotaph of Dread, and we came across a Shamblix. We fought him, but, being of low power, we had a difficult time of it. We were close to defeating him, when a trio of dreamers entered. They said nothing, just stood there. We were heavily damaged, and still being hurt, but none of them offered to help us. They just stood there and watched. Mikal was able to escape the fray for a moment, and asked them to leave, but the didn’t. They just stood there."
Xenon shuddered. "They were very odd looking, compared to most of the dreamers I normally met. Their skin was all white, and they wore abyss clothing. All except their armor, that was different. One wore blood red armor, another gold, and another wore dark blue. We continued with the battle, and finally, Mikal entered the battle and attacked the unprepared Shamblix from behind with his chakram. The beast disappeared, and we turned to face the dreamers."
"Job told them that it was impolite and rude of them to just stand by, and not help us. They should’ve either left, or assisted. The leader, the one wearing the blood red armor, was named DarkPrince. He stepped forward, face to face with Job."
"I would apologize, but, you see, we care not. Does the hunter apologize to the deer before it slays it’s fawn? Does the executioner apologize to the man on the block? No, so neither shall we.", was Dark Prince’s reply.
Job stepped back, and we all gathered around. None of us even began to contemplate the meanings of his words. We all nervously fingered our chalk elemens, wondering whether we would have to put them to use or not.
"So, you compare us to the slayed fawn, or the condemned man?" asked Klass, finally.
DarkPrince grinned evilly, revealing a pair of pointed teeth, set against bloodstained lips. "Yes," he replied, "for that is what you are!"
DarkPrince lunged at Job, and the two rolled to the ground, and began grappling. The other two, named ShadeWraith, and NightOmen, charged toward us. Mikal grabbed at ShadeWraith, but missed. The vampire whirled around with inhuman speed, and grabbed Mikal from behind. NightOmen siezed me by the neck, and tossed me at Mikal. I slammed into him, and we both collapsed on the floor. Klass backed up, and withdrew his chakram. Shade and Night paused for a second, then, fanned out to either side of Klass. Glancing around, he noticed that if he shot at one, the other would get him from behind. He backed up, stalling for time. Shade and Night were on opposite sides of him now, so he had to take action. However, instead of firing at Shade or Night, Klass fired at DarkPrince, whom was still wrestling with Job.
Job grappled with Dark, and then, the burden on top of him disappeared. Dark flew off of him, and landed in the dust sever yards away. Job looked to his left, and saw Klass go down under the two other vampires, and he saw Mikal and I in a heap off to the side. Without thinking, he dashed over to the aid of Klass. By the time he arrived, though, Klass was dissolving in a wisp of smoke. One of the vampires bent down, and gathered the remains. Halting, Job glanced around. The two vampires with Klass were still not aware that their leader had fallen. DarkPrince was in a heap off to the side, but looked like he was beginning to come to.
I came to as Job grabbed me by the shoulder. "Get up, and get out of here, Xenon." he said. Then, he bent over Mikal, and swung him over his shoulder. I dashed to the portal, and turned to look behind me. Job was carrying the unconscious Mikal over his shoulder, and running towards the portal. I took a step into the portal, when I heard a scream. Job’s scream. I turned, and looked back. The vampires had noticed Job was free, and were chasing after him. I yelled for him to hurry, but with Mikal’s added weight, there was no way he could outrun them. I stepped back in, to help him battle, but he looked at me hopelessly, and waved me on. He continued running, but soon, they caught up with him. I turned back through the portal, and ran, with Job’s death cry ringing in my brain."
Here, my brother paused. For quite a while. I almost asked him if that was the end of the story, when he took another breath, and continued.
"I don’t know what they did. As far as I knew, there was no was to completely kill a dreamer. We just collapse, into the little soulspheres..but I haven’t seen Klass, Job, or Mikal since that night. I fear, that they are dead."
A burning light entered my brother’s eye. "I swear that I will hunt them, and kill them, just like they did to my friends...just like they did to Klass...and Job...and Mikal. I will put them through all the pain I’ve experienced."
Xenon looked up at me, with the fire burning un quenched in his eyes. "I’ve renamed myself Darkstalker. I will hunt them till the death. I shall slay them." He looked towards the sky. "I swear, I shall make them pay."
After that last statement, my brother walked off to continue his chores. After that day, he returned to the same silent, passive mood he had been in for the past few weeks, and I didn’t do anything to try to bring him out of it. I was afraid, for him. For me, too. What would happen if I ever entered the dream? Would the same thing happened? But, at the time, I didn’t give it much thought. How would someone like me ever awaken?
Every night, I lay in bed, listening to my brother. He spoke little, and moved less. He used to toss and turn a lot when he was happy in the dream. These past few months, he had laid in bed like a corpse. Then, without warning, one night, I heard him gasp. I began to listen to him, and heard him say "Aha...I’ve found you. After many moths of searching and training, I’ve found you. I am Darkstalker. Prepare to die..to die for Klass, Job, and Mikal."
I jumped from my bed, and climbed up. My brother was laying on his bed, motionless, but his face was contorted in a grimace of pure hate and anger. Suddenly, his hand lashed out, and grabbed an invisible being in front of me. His body started thrashing about on the bed, and I jumped down before I got hit. I watched from across the room as he swung, kicked, and lashed out with his whole being at an invisible assailant.
Soon, his entire body relaxed, and he smiled, and closed his eyes. And, he entered a sleep from which he never awakened. I never found out what happened. I’ve been dreaming for months now, and few I’ve met have heard of my brother Xenon, or his alter-ego, Darkstalker. Fewer still have heard of the dreamers DarkPrince, ShadeWraith, or NightOmen. I can only assume that he completed his quest, to destroy them, at the cost of his life.
We held a funeral the following day. I think that was the day that father finally cracked. He’d been tough to live with before, and he only grew worse after the death of my brother. Very few people attended, as we were not well known, largely due to fathers reputation. Only our family, father’s stable master, mother’s friend Megara, and my mentor, the royal sage Kal’Thor. Standing next to Kal during the funeral, I heard him utter a phrase. Almost too quietly to be heard.
He whispered "Today, the world has lost a proud dreamer."
