Dreamer's Throne

Chapter 20

There were a few different ways Garrett could get experience points, and the simplest was seeing new things for the first time. Yet without venturing out of the inn and into the Dream, that avenue was largely blocked. The saving grace was the sub-path hed unlocked, Dream Gardener. Not only did cultivating the Dream Seeds he created replace the experience points he lost, but planting seeds in mortals provided a whole host of other ways to generate experience. Unfortunately, until he reached level three Garrett was unable to draw others into a dream, which meant he needed to step into their dreams.

Glancing over at the bed where Ryn was sleeping, Garrett bit his lip. The Dream Flowers were incredibly convenient and clearly powerful, but they also scared him. It was clear from his interaction with the flowers in Gorns dream that the plants had a consciousness of their own, one that could influence their host. He still didnt know if they were positive or not, but the memory of how theyd consumed the monster posing as Henrick left him shuddering.

After hesitating for a moment longer, Garrett made up his mind and rose from the throne, walking over to where Ryn lay. Reaching out, he touched her forehead gently, sinking into her dream. Once again, he found himself in that dim, dreary street, the dripping rain bouncing off his umbrella. Frowning slightly, he looked around, trying to understand why he was back here in this place. Hed assumed Ryns dream would have been different, but at first he couldnt see even a single difference between this dream and the one hed entered previously.

Walking forward, he moved through the air until he was standing outside her window. Inside the house he could hear the screaming match still going, but to his surprise there was another sound as well. Though it was faint, Garrett recognized it instantly. Shrouding himself with Dreamers Cloak, he stepped through the wall and into Ryns room, seeing Ryn sitting on the bed. Though she was still wrapped up in the thin blanket, she was no longer cowering under the covers. Instead, she sat on the bed, her knees pulled up to her chest, her gaze fixed on the music box that played quietly on the dresser.

Why is that still here?

Looking at the music box hed created the last time he was in a dream, Garrett realized it had changed. When hed originally created it the box had been simple and smooth, but now small flowers had appeared all along the sides and the key to turn it was shaped like a five-petaled Dream Flower. As he was examining it, the music faded and stopped and Ryn jumped up, running over to wind it. She brushed right past Garrett, her eyes never registering him as she turned the flower handle. Once it was wound up, she returned to her bed and wrapped the blanket around herself again, falling into a stupor as she listened to the gentle tune.

Waving his fingers, Garrett created a second level Dream Seed, spending two experience points. With a flick he sent the seed tumbling into Ryns head, and with a shiver it attached itself to her. He had been meaning to put a seed on her to allow himself to track her, but he also wanted to test something out. Stepping up next to the bed, he reached out and touched her head, letting power from his soul spark seep into the seed, causing it to quickly transform into a flower. With the first flower the seed produced, Ryns figure brightened, and with the second it brightened even more, turning from the faint gray into full color. The colors from the shifting flower petals spread throughout her body, dyeing her and her surroundings with life.

You have cultivated a Dream Seed, causing it to grow two flowers. You have gained 1 EXP.

EXP: 9/40

Annoyed that hed only earned one experience point despite spending two, Garrett snapped his fingers, spending another experience point to create a pile of cards with the alphabet on one side and letter sounds on the other. Placing them down in the sheets next to Ryn, Garret stepped back and sent a message to Ryn, trying to keep it as soft as possible to avoid jarring her awake.

Its time to practice reading.

The whisper sank into Ryn and a faint light moved in her eyes. Slowly, her head rose and she looked around, searching for something on her bed. Spotting the cards, she paused, and for a moment Garret thought the dream was going to end. Instead, she picked up the cards and looked at them, her eyes growing clearer and more alert.

A says ah, or a.

Helping her with the first one, Garret was excited to see Ryn put the first card down and look at the second one. Mumbling under her breath, she spoke to herself.

B. Buh.

By this point, Ryns eyes had lost their haze and she appeared to be entirely alert.

A dreamer has experienced their first lucid dream. You have gained 1 EXP.

A dreamer has explored a new location: Personal Dream. You have gained 1 EXP.

EXP: 10/40

The grin that stretched across Garretts face would have lit up the room if it hadnt been hidden behind a mask. Neither of the prompts had indicated that this method of gaining experience could only be done once, which meant hed just figured out his ticket to gaining experience for level three. It cost him two experience points to plant a level-two Dream Seed, but hed gained three experience through cultivating the seed and then bringing the dreamer into a state of lucid dreaming, netting one.

Thirty people was a lot to try to cultivate, but as soon as Garrett hit level three he would be able to draw the dreamers out of their dream and into his dream, which meant he could potentially start introducing them to the different sorts of nightmares hed seen before. Though he didnt yet know how the process would work exactly, he was quite excited that he finally had a reliable source of experience points. Unfortunately, this method only seemed to work for those who had yet to Awaken, as Gorn hadnt given him any experience points for this sort of thing.

After watching Ryn a bit longer, he left her dream and walked back over to the throne, sitting down in it to replenish his energy. As his soul spark refilled, he connected with the brightest energy cluster in his head, the flowers that covered most of the inn. Small pieces of information filtered into his mind, delivering snippets of conversations, short scenes, and a myriad of fractured emotions the flowers had captured from the inn throughout the day.

Taking a bit of time to work through the information, Garrett tried to sort out what was useful while rejecting anything irrelevant. Most of the information was too fractured to be used, but a few pieces were worthwhile, so Garrett carefully filed them away. He still wasnt entirely sure what he was going to do with the new intelligence his flowers gathered, but he knew he wanted to extend the flowers out to the table so he could capture more information from the patrons and gang members who ate at the inn.

Dealing with the scattered information took a while, and by the time he was done his soul spark was brimming with energy again. Pleased, he directed his attention to the traitorous gang member to determine where he was. To his pleasant surprise, the traitor was sleeping upstairs in the inn. Activating Observe the Dream, Garrett double-checked the path leading to the traitors room and then stepped out himself. He thought about activating Dreamers Cloak just in case a nightmare had wandered into the building, but since the Dream Flower had taken over almost the entire first floor he hadnt seen any nightmares.

While the dream plant hadnt extended to the second floor yet, it was clearly having a suppressive effect, since even the small Drudge Wraiths had completely vanished. Climbing the stairs up to the third floor, Garrett stopped outside the room where the traitor was sleeping and listened carefully. Hearing nothing, he cautiously opened the door, his eyes sweeping the room as he got ready to activate Dreamers Cloak. He hadnt seen anything with Observe the Dream, and as he walked into the room everything remained quiet.

It was only when he stopped by the traitors bed that he realized something was different. Hidden by the light haze, a tiny, insect-like black spot was moving around on the mans skin, and as Garrett watched he saw a second and then a third. Soon he could see dozens of these small spots, running over the mans head, face, and neck. The spots all vibrated, releasing a high-pitched frequency that rang in Garretts ear, causing him to itch all over.

You have observed a Creeping Horde, one of the low-ranked nightmares of the Dream. You have gained 1 EXP for observing a new type of nightmare.

EXP: 11/40

Hed been planning on entering the traitors dream, but now he honestly wasnt sure. The Creeping Horde didnt seem to mind the Dream Flower planted in the traitors mind, and when Garrett concentrated it became apparent that the connection between him and the flower was slowly degrading. A deep frown crossed his face and he ruthlessly crushed the revulsion he felt as he reached out to touch the traitors forehead.

Like wet paint dripping away, his surroundings melted to reveal a simple room that looked like the great room of the Dreamers Inn. The traitor was sitting in a chair at one of the tables, a mountain of food in front of him. Stacks of gold sat here and there on the table, being counted by two beautiful ladies. A dozen other gang members surrounded the traitor, each of them toasting or admiring him. Laughing with delight, he picked up a piece of meat and brought it to his mouth, oblivious to the large black insect that ran across it right before he bit into it.

The flower that should have been blooming brilliantly looked pale and ragged as more of the insects chewed at its roots. Realizing what was going on, Garretts eyes narrowed. He could see that the flower was trying to fight back, its roots wrapping around one of the insects, but for every bit of energy it managed to extract, it lost twice as much to the bites of the other insects. It was fighting a losing battle, and without any assistance it would soon lose.

Since he had no idea if the insects would attack him or not, Garret kept Dreamers Cloak at the ready as he stepped close, reaching out to infuse more energy into the flower. The energy surged, lighting up the gray scene with bright light. Like a stream of life-giving water, the energy from his soul spark flooded into the flower, causing it to swell and sway. Driven into a frenzy by the sudden increase in soul spark energy, the Creeping Horde began to rush around, their mandibles sinking into the flower to try to suck out this new nectar.

The nightmares werent the only ones that grew excited, however, and the flowers petals shook with happiness as the energy surged into it. The shimmering, rainbow glow that had faded from the flowers petals returned full force and another bud suddenly appeared on the flowers stem. More roots began to grow, latching on to other insects in the creeping horde, sucking their vitality up and using it to repair the damage it was taking. Garrett continued to feed energy into the flower until the second flower appeared, doubling the flowers strength. He had spent a bit more than half his soul sparks energy and was feeling a bit empty, so he stopped, sealing up his energy and stepping back.

Given the edge it needed, the Dream Flower sent out tendrils, scooping up the Creeping Horde insects and pulling them close. One after another, the Creeping Horde were sucked dry, their small husks blowing away into ash as they lost their vitality. With every insect that was consumed, the flower grew stronger until there was only a single one remaining. Focusing his attention on the flower, Garrett tried to command it to avoid devouring the nightmare. To his astonishment, it actually listened, though it kept the nightmare insect tightly wrapped up so it couldnt escape.

A third bud had already begun forming, making Garrett very happy. The fact that he lacked any way to defend himself had been weighing on him, so to discover the potency of the plants consuming ability was a huge relief. More and more, the Dreamers Inn was feeling like a safe place, and while he still hadnt forgotten the terrifying encounter with the crimson-eyed nightmare, he was starting to realize that had been an anomaly rather than the rule.

That didnt mean, however, that he was about to let his guard down. After judging how much more energy the flower would need in order for the third bud to bloom, Garrett decided it wasnt worth the risk. Instead, he snapped his fingers, causing his form to shift. Shrouded by a black cloak, he walked up to the table and spoke in a grim voice, transmitting it into the traitors ears.

We need to talk.

Shock snapped the traitor out of his happy daze and he froze, a piece of meat dangling from his lips. Gulping, he put the bone he was holding down and waved the people surrounding him away. Though his expression was one of bravado, Garrett didnt miss the sliver of fear hidden deep in his gaze. Walking away from the table, the other people vanished with a ripple, erased from the dream.

A dreamer has experienced their first lucid dream. You have gained 1 EXP.

A dreamer has explored a new location: Personal Dream. You have gained 1 EXP.

EXP: 13/40

When the notification hed been hoping to see popped up, Garrett couldnt help but clench his fist. Even if he earned nothing else from this encounter, being able to verify his suspicions was worth it. Now, it was time to see how far he could push it.

Youve been infected, but dont worry, Im here to help you.

Even as he spoke, the traitor felt the legs of the last remaining Creeping Horde insect scrabbling against his scalp, causing him to scream and fall backward. The black insect, still trapped by the flowers roots, hung in the air, allowing him to see its vicious-looking mandibles and hard shell. Fear coursed through the traitor as he backed up as fast as he could, his hands and legs looking like the insects as he tried to get away from it. Unfortunately for him, the insect was tangled up with the flower attached to him, and that meant that no matter how fast he retreated, the insect just followed.

Dont worry, Ive given you this flower to protect you. Treat it well and it will keep you safe in return.

No sooner had Garrett finished speaking than the Dream Flower sucked the remaining life from the Creeping Horde insect, completely destroying it. The third flower, fed with the last bits of energy the nightmare contained, burst forth, causing the colors in the room to bloom vibrantly as a five-petaled flower appeared in the traitors eyes.

A dreamer has met a nightmare they have never seen before. You have gained 1 EXP.

A dreamer has survived a nightmare they have never seen before. You have gained 1 EXP.

A dreamer has destroyed a nightmare. You have gained 1 EXP.

EXP: 16/40

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