The Dream Sanctum: Beyond The End (9 page)

However, the serpent was simply too large. It dove suddenly toward her,
and Kwin vanished quickly, reappearing on the deck.

“We are going to need more creative measures to win this one,” she said,
panting slightly.

Kai thought hard, wondering what he could use against such a creature.
Their inability to alter the world around them made things more difficult; they
couldn’t simply imagine the creature away. However, Kai had an idea. If pure
strength wasn’t enough, maybe getting a little flashy was appropriate.

“Here goes nothing,” Kai murmured.

He held his arm out straight to face the creature, then took a step
forward as though pushing an invisible object. A rain of burning meteors
erupted from the sky above, striking its entire body. The creature let out an
unearthly scream and started to sink, and for a moment Kai felt hope surge
through him. But the fight was not over yet; the serpent thrashed violently,
sending tremendous waves toward the ship.

This time Kai was ready, and he hurriedly grabbed on to one of the
benches nearby. Water swept over the deck, so strong that they nearly loosed
his grip, but he held on tight.

A few moments later the waves subsided, and Kai looked around hurriedly.
The serpent had sunk below the surface, giving them a few moments to regroup.
He did a quick head count to make sure everyone was all right, and then his
heart sank.

“Where is Lindsay?” Kwin shouted. Kwin’s eyes widened and Elvia rushed
over to the railing to look, but there was nothing.

Kai tried to keep calm.
She could
have gone inside or just woken up
, he thought, but something told him it
wasn’t either of those.

The serpent rose out of the water again, and it seemed completely unfazed
by its wounds. In fact, it now appeared to be even more determined. As it
reared back, its entire body glowed brilliantly blue against the dark sky.

“This will not end now,” Kwin hissed, holding her scythe at the ready.

Then, however, the creature simply collapsed into the waves, sinking down
and out of sight. The ship rocked again, but it was hardly the violent attack
from before. As quickly as it had come, the creature was gone.

“What happened?” Kai called, but the others shook their heads in
confusion.

They didn’t have to wait long for an answer. Sudden movement in the sky
caused them to glance up, and they saw Lindsay gliding down toward them on her
white wings, sopping wet but looking very pleased and relieved.

She landed unsteadily on the deck as her wings vanished, and Elvia
quickly caught her before she fell. She straightened up, out of breath, and
gave them a thumbs-up.

“Are you all right? What did you do?” Kwin asked her incredulously.

“Electricity!” Lindsay replied. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I just
flew toward it and decided to see what I could do. I didn’t even think about
it, I just put my hands on it and imagined electricity flowing through my
fingers.”

Kwin nodded approvingly, thoroughly impressed.

“Very smart. You must have used quite a lot of power to successfully stun
it like that.”

“Thanks. I guess you were right about me finally finding my… wait.” She
broke off, walking to the edge of the ship and looking down into the water.
“Did you say stunned? Does that mean it will come back?”

“I sincerely doubt it,” Kwin answered quickly. “After being hit like
that, it probably thinks that we’re far too much trouble.”

Lindsay nodded, looking relieved once again. Alastor came over and
clapped her gently on the back.

“You did great, kid,” he said proudly. Elvia nodded vigorously from his
side. “How about we celebrate by getting inside and drying off?”

The others readily agreed and walked back into the kitchen. The warmth
was a welcome change from the downpour outside, and they dried themselves
instantly. However, it was also a total mess; the waves that rocked the ship
had caused the books and papers to fall into scattered piles all over the
floor. While Alastor headed for the control booth to check their course, the other
four set about tidying up.

“We could have done without the journal getting damaged further,” Kwin
said as lifted it up gently. The page they had been reading was torn, and a
number of others were bent and creased. “Anyway, we may continue now if that is
all that needs doing.”

Kwin sat down and the others followed, willing to let the rest of the
mess wait until later. She opened the book and skimmed through the pages until
she reached the last few. They were also faded, but she now seemed extra
determined to figure out what they said.

Alastor came out a few minutes later, looking slightly relieved.

“Looks like we’re set! Even that big thing didn’t throw us too far…” He
trailed off as he noticed Kwin looking intently at the book, then took a seat,
waiting placidly for an update.

The room was quiet for many minutes, no one daring to disturb Kwin as she
closely inspected each page. Suddenly, however, she sat back, tore a page out
of the journal and folded it neatly into a small square.

“Just something I feel we might need later. Nothing very important,” Kwin
said, noticing her friends’ curious expressions. She put the paper in her
pocket and started to reach for the journal again, then looked as if she had
thought of something. “Oh, Alastor, would you mind taking over for me? I need
to speak with Kai and Lindsay.”

“Not a problem!” Alastor replied, looking quite eager to examine the
mysterious book.

Kwin beckoned to the other two, and they trailed after her as she led
them down to the lower deck. It was a simple, warmly lit hallway with a number
of small doors on either side. One of them opened automatically as they walked
passed, revealing a comfortably furnished room, which they entered.

They could still hear the storms from here, and the waves pounded against
the hull with dull thuds.

Kwin ignored all this and made sure the door was closed before moving to
sit on the bed. She pulled out the paper from her pocket and unfolded it,
casting a wary glance around the room before speaking in a low voice.

“You both remember my suspicions about Elvia,” she murmured. “I believe
we have found a way that we can test it them for sure.”

“What is it?” Kai asked.

In response, Kwin beckoned Kai and Lindsay to move closer. They took a
seat on either side of her and looked at the paper, but in the bedroom’s light
they saw nothing more than faded scribbles.

“This paper documents the traveler’s voyage near the very end of their
trip. They spotted land on the horizon and sailed toward it. However, as they
approached, they found that their imaginative powers faded. Nothing they did
had any effect on the world. It was as though they were no longer in the
Sanctum at all.”

“Wait… they lost their powers completely?” Kai asked, trying to see where
this was going.

“Yes. Apart from what they could do physically, they had nothing. Think
about it, Kai.”

It took Kai a few moments, but gradually he began to understand. From
Kwin’s other side, Lindsay had also come to the same conclusion.

“So… if we go to that same place, where imagination has no effect… Elvia
wouldn’t be able to exist, right?” she said slowly.

“That is the idea,” Kwin replied with a nod. “However, they did not give
any coordinates to this unknown location. I am assuming they simply traveled
straight, as we are now. From their description, the land they saw was massive…
and looked vaguely familiar.”

“Well, this isn’t the last page, is it?” Kai asked hurriedly. “What about
that one, doesn’t it say what they did just before they stopped writing?”

“Unfortunately, that is the most interesting entry I could find,” Kwin
sighed. “I didn’t manage to read every one, but the rest all seemed to be about
how boring the trip was. Either some pages are missing, or they were not able
to write any more after they made land… if they did.”

“I wonder why they would say it looks familiar, though,” Lindsay said. “I
mean, unless they had been out that far before… or maybe they were blown off
course and didn’t know it yet?”

“Either one is a possibility, though I’m not sure how likely. We have
been out here for days. If one were to get blown off course to a familiar
landmark, the change in direction would be very noticeable.”

“So basically we don’t know if where we’re headed will be enough to prove
anything about Elvia?” Kai asked quietly, feeling disappointed. Kwin, however,
shook her head.

“The writer’s details are sparse, but we know what we are looking for.
This is the only land the writers have mentioned apart from the Shuski’s
island. I believe that if we come across a land mass as large as the one they are
describing, we’ll have found the right place.”

“But… what if Elvia is real? Then what do we do?” Lindsay asked
nervously.

It was a question that had been running over and over in Kai’s mind ever since
he and Kwin had met to discuss the possibility. He hadn’t found an answer. He
didn’t think of Alastor as someone who would tell such a pointless lie, unless
it was to make himself appear more talented than he really was, but for him
that hardly seemed necessary.

“I don’t know,” Kwin replied after a moment’s pause. “I have thought
about it myself but haven’t come to a satisfactory conclusion. I suppose it’s a
bridge we must cross when we come to it, if we do.”

A heavy silence fell over the room as they thought about what might be to
come. Kai wondered whether it was better that they knew now so they wouldn’t be
surprised, or if he would have preferred to be saved the feelings of paranoia
and suspicion. He wondered how Lindsay was taking this news; she was the only
person that Elvia had really opened up to.

“Hey… has it gotten quieter or something?” Lindsay asked suddenly.

She was right. While previously the waves and storms thudded dully in
their ears, now they only heard the slight creaking of the ship.

“Excellent. It appears the storm is clearing up,” Kwin said and got up
from the bed. “Let us refrain from saying anything no matter what happens. If
it becomes necessary to speak up, we’ll come to a consensus first. Until then,
we need to focus on the voyage at hand and prepare ourselves for any potential
dangers – especially if we’re going to lose our powers.”

As they left the room, they saw Alastor walking down the stairs toward
them.

“Ah there you are,” he said, and Kai saw he looked troubled. “You may want
to come take a look at this.”

They walked back up to the kitchen, spreading out around the table where
the journal still sat. The windows were still dark, but the sounds of rain and
wind were now gone.

Kwin was the first to reach the journal, and as her eyes darted across
the page, they grew wider in surprise. Her mouth fell slightly open, and she
looked from the journal to Alastor in shock.

“Is this… does this mean what I think it means?”

“I guess we’ll find out soon,” Alastor replied quietly.

“What is it?” Lindsay asked impatiently, taking the journal and reading
over the page. Kai read over her shoulder, and after a few moments he realized
what Kwin had been looking at. On the page were only four words, looking as
though they were scrawled in a hasty panic.

“The world is flat.”

These four words sent a chill down his spine. He moved quickly to the
wall, pressing the switch to open the wooden reinforcements. As the panels slid
open and as the tinted glass cleared, he wished he hadn’t.

Where before there had been a seemingly endless stretch of ocean, there
was now just a small area left. In the near distance the water seemed to simply
end as though they had reached the side of an infinity pool, but there was no
wall. The water simply seemed to drop off the edge of the world. There was no
foamy storm of current and no roaring sound of water pounding against the
ground wherever it fell. It was dead silent and still, and Kai realized that
there was no way they would be able to turn the ship around in time.

Lindsay let out a horrified gasp from behind him, and he felt his stomach
turn.

“Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting this,” Alastor said.

“This explains why the other ships never came back,” Kwin uttered in a
low voice, then rushed toward the door.

“What are you doing?” Lindsay cried.

“We can’t afford to lose the ship. We will search for an alternate route
or see if this really is the end of the Sanctum.”

“Wait, wait, hold on,” Alastor said calmly, and Kwin stopped at the door.
“Who knows what’s over the edge? We should explore. On the off chance that it’s
just an endless fall, we can fly.”

Kwin looked at him in confusion, almost as if she thought he had gone
mad, but she nodded.

“In that case… hold on tight,” she instructed the others. They didn’t
need to be told twice.

All eyes were on the blank expanse of sky in front of them as they
approached the end of the ocean. His heart racing in his chest, Kai held on to
the booth’s handrail as the ship tilted forward and they sailed over the edge
of the world.