Forsaken Dreamscape (Nevermor) (53 page)

“It’s
going to be alright,” he promised – though he had once told her that he would
make her no more promises.

That
was the past.  This is a chance to start again.
  It had started
last night, and he did not want to let her go, even now.

“I
love you,” he heard her say.  Her voice sounded as if she was on the verge of
tears.  He did not want her to cry.  Not after everything that had happened;
she could not cry now.

“I
love you too,” he told her, because she needed to hear that now, “and I won’t
stop.”

He
looked at her face to carry it with him – her glistening eyes so full of
concern, her sweet mouth unsure.  He wanted her image imprinted in his mind in
case –

In
case it does not go as I think.

He
released her, fearing that he wouldn’t if he didn’t do it now.  Rifter stepped
away, facing her as he backed toward the cliff edge, seeing her slip away from
him.

“It
will be over before the day is out.”

With
that promise, he stepped over the edge.

1

Rifter’s
feet sank into the ground below, and though he had not flown in years, the Tikilin
had allowed him to fall the distance from the cliff and land on his feet,
unharmed.

His
appearance did not go unnoticed by the pirates standing around the area, but
they did not attack him, as if they had been ordered against it beforehand. 
They drew their weapons in case he would advance on them, but then they simply
backed away as if he was not a man but a giant grizzly that had awoken from a
deep sleep.  Gradually, they all became aware of him, and the ones who were
close enough to do so stepped out of his path.

He
passed through them, noting the fear that they were trying to hide behind held
their guns and swords.  When he looked up, there was a clear path to the one
who awaited him.  The demon was dressed as the Scourge once again – assuming
that it was the only way to get these pirates to be loyal to his word.

Rifter
felt that he had been here before, more than once, standing before this
figure.  This time, however, there was no fear in him.  He had beaten the
Scourge years ago and had become aware of his own strength.

His
image is nothing to me now.

The
dark man waited with his arms crossed before him, his feet planted on a wooden
platform that might have once been set for a gallows.  Hovering beside him, as
if she was his queen, was the fairy wisp – the first of many that had been in
this world, who had once loved
Rifter
– but jealousy was a horrible,
wicked thing, and bad deeds did not go unpunished.  She was not his any longer.

They
both looked at him, and he would not keep them waiting.

Rifter
took gradual steps toward his enemies, ignoring the great number of henchmen
who surrounded him.  The demon and the wisp made no movement until he stepped
directly before them, and the first thing he did was look up to the small face
of the cursed fairy that had betrayed him.

What
he saw there surprised him.

Whisper
was staring at him as if she did not know him at all
– but wait
…  It was
the opposite of that.  She was looking at him wide-eyed and open-mouthed
because she
did
know him, and he was not who she’d expected him to be. 
Rifter watched her stare at him, and in that moment, he realized that she had
just seen the truth.

She
glanced at the Scourge imposter, who did not give her another thought.  Rifter
saw the confusion and pain on her face as she looked back to him once again,
and then without a word, she retreated from the scene, shooting off with a
flash of light.

The
demon sighed after her, but did not seem surprised or saddened to see her go.

“The
poor thing,” he murmured. “She’s so very confused just now, seeing you here.  I
can’t say I blame her though.  Women are such silly things, don’t you agree?”

Rifter
knew whose face rested behind those bandages, even if the others around him did
not.  Whisper’s behavior could only be caused by one thing: she had truly
thought that Nix’s face behind those bandages was Rifter’s instead.  She’d
thought the demon was the one she loved, and so she had stayed by his side,
despite his evil intentions – not that hers were any different, and not that
the real Rifter could find it in himself to care any longer.

“Did
you bring the others with you?” the demon asked in the Scourge’s deep voice. 
“Or did they abandon you?  You look so lonely standing by yourself.”

“What
is it you want?” Rifter snapped quickly. “Why bring Wren back here?  Why this
war?”

“This
place has been corrupted, but it’s not quite like I want it.  Not yet.  First,
all of the wolves have to die, of course; especially the animal boy.  He could
change this place in ways I don’t want to think about.”  The demon paused, only
to shudder.  “Once all that is over, there will be complete power for
Nevermor’s hero.”

Most
of the power
was not enough then?  The demon would not be satisfied until it was worshiped
like a god?

“And
the
Scourge
will be that hero?”

Rifter
could not see it, but he was certain that the demon was smiling.  The lone eye
that was visible through the bandages gleamed with sinister joy.

“Of
course not.  The Scourge is not the one to set things straight.  He was the one
who started it all.  I probably should have mentioned it to you earlier, but
everyone knows that the corruption began before I ever went into your body.  I
have the Scourge to thank for that – so therefore I suppose I have
you
to thank for that.  At his death at the volcano so many years ago, he opened
the mouth of hell, and I was able to escape.  I don’t know what he meant to
accomplish other than to destroy you and this world, but he set me free.  Being
a nightmare demon, I was naturally drawn here.

“After
that, I remained in this world for a time, taking up residence in one body
after another, and by that I learned the rules and ways of this world of dreams
and nightmares I had been brought to.  I decided to keep it for my own.  This
place is not God’s heaven, man’s earth, or the Devil’s hell.  It is a place
that should not exist.  It is a place that someone like me could take for
himself.

“I
learned of the Rifter and the Scourge, of their mythical powers of control over
this place.  The Scourge no longer existed, and so there was only one other
choice for me. 
You
.  I decided that in order to have complete control,
I had to become the Rifter.  So I sought you out, and I got what I wanted, even
though I was forced to leave your soul-pit eventually.  I took your friend’s
body instead, and the boy looked so much like you that not many realized the
difference.  If they did, I killed them.”

“His
name was Nix,” Rifter said forcefully, as if he hadn’t heard the rest of the
demon’s words.

“I
beg your pardon?” the demon asked, a tinge of laughter in his question.

“That
boy’s name was
Nix
, and he was my brother.”

“Ah
yes,” the demon gave. “Nix.  Well, I suppose you ought to know that fact.  You
had a history with that one.  You brought him here – gave him that name.  You
were friendly rivals.  But here’s something that you may not know.”

The
demon paused to give greater emphasis to his words.  “I made you
kill him
!”

An
icy wave rolled across Rifter at the sound of those words.  He felt that all
the blood had run out of him, now pooling thickly on the ground.  It was a
lie.  It
had
to be a lie!

The
demon saw the look of confusion on Rifter’s face, and it relished in it.

“When
I was inside you, the only time you didn’t fight me was when you were asleep. 
You really didn’t sleep much, for fear of that I suppose, but sometimes…”

That
was true.  Rifter had never wanted to let his guard down on the demon within
him.  He’d done all he could to stay awake, but…

‘What
do you want from me, Rifter?  You want me to beg?  I never beg.  So do it if
you’ve got the balls.  Do it!  Kill me!’

He
recalled that moment now, a memory that he could not quite reach, images that
had tried to surface but had never been able.

“You
mean you truly don’t remember it?” the demon questioned.  “It happened the
night before you
found him
that way.  You don’t recall pinning him
against that tree as he tried to plead with you, or how you cut him open while
he was still alive?  You took his heart in your hand and ripped it out –”

“
No
more of this
!” Rifter shouted, clenching his fists so tightly that he might
have broken the bones.  A clap of thunder resounded and shook the ground.  “It
ends when I kill you, and not a moment before.  Let’s get on with it!”

“Pathetic
boy,” the demon chided. “You attempted that when we first met, and you had very
little luck.”

“I’ve
grown since then,” Rifter growled, his eye flashing.  “Now how shall we do
this?”

The
demon seemed disappointed that the banter would not continue on.  It was
greatly enjoying seeing Rifter get so angry.  Even so, all good things must
come to an end – and that was why the demon would live on.

“As
such,” the false Scourge said, and held up his hand.

Fire
burst out of his palm, and the color of it was such a deep red that it did not
look like man’s fire at all.  It shot out above Rifter’s head, and he watched
in horror as every pirate in the area was lit ablaze by it.  They cried out,
flailing as they burned, the smell of their melting flesh tainting the air –
the hot scent of hair and nails.

The
flames flared hotter than any fire Rifter had ever seen.  He could feel the
heat pressing in on him.  Within a few seconds, however, it was snuffed out.

From
the horrible sounds coming from within the blaze, Rifter expected to see the
ground littered with fleshless bodies, but that was not the case.  The pirates
were still standing.  The flesh that remained on their frames was red and
shriveled, smoke rolling off them, but they had not been downed.

But
they were certainly dead.  They had become monsters.

Skin
was burned away from their mouths, revealing lipless, skeletal grins.  Their
fingers were long claws, and the noises they emitted were not of pain, but much
like the screeching of ravenous animals.

His
brothers were not in this group, were they?  No, they couldn’t have entered
yet.  He’d heard no sounds of battle around him while he’d confronted the
demon.

He
turned back now to find that the demon had ripped the bandages from its face,
staring at him through Nix’s amber-eyed, white-haired visage.  Before him,
Rifter’s enemy drifted up into the air effortlessly, rising up above his head
before hovering there expectantly.

“Come
then,” the demon purred through a wide, hideous smile. “Let’s
do
end
this!”

2

Wren
had been watching the scene below, looking on as Rifter stepped toward the
demon.  She could not hear what was being said, but her eyes had nearly come
out of her head when the flames had engulfed the entire group of awaiting
pirates.  She clamped both hands over her mouth to keep herself from screaming,
and she was sure that, beside her, Toss was not much different.

They
saw the monsters emerge from the smoke.  Not one of those men cared for their
weapons any longer, dropping them as they writhed and twisted uncomfortably in
their ruined skin.  Smoke continued to rise from them, and when the smell
wafted upward, Wren buried her nose in her cloak.

“That
stench…” Toss muttered, unable to stop himself.

Beyond
all that, they saw the demon rise into the air, urging Rifter to follow, but
they were forced to turn their attentions away from that when the gunshots rang
out.  Their eyes were drawn to the side, where they could see Mach clearly
amidst the burnt monsters.  His gunshots drew the creatures’ attentions, but he
thinned them out well enough, causing many of them to fall with his bullets. 
Things looked promising – until the undead creatures he shot down began to rise
back up.

Finn
created his own fray on the opposite side of the camp, slicing through the
creatures that emerged from the fire with dual blades.  He appeared to be
having better luck than Mach, cutting bodies into bloody pieces, but a great
number of the pirates were rising up over him, trying to swallow him like a
living wave and hindering his movement.

Calico
could be seen attempting to help Finn, chopping through the creatures’ sinewy
necks with her hatchets.  Some of them turned away from him to advance on her,
seeing that she was also an acceptable target.  They sliced her with their claws,
but she did not fall.

Wren
first caught sight of Sly when he went flying back into a tree.  His body hit
the trunk hard and he slid to the ground, disoriented.  The creatures closed in
to envelope him, and she wanted to close her eyes, but could not.  Ripped
pieces of flesh went flying into the air, and Wren had nearly screamed before
she realized that those chunks were not of Sly.  He emerged then, moving in a
blind fury that seemed so uncommon for him.  Before her eyes, she saw him rip
off the head of an enemy and proceed to attack the others with it.  Many fell,
but others gathered.