Dreamweaver

Chapter 8

I awoke drifting on the surface of the water. My first thought was about the weird dream I’d been having. Something about a goddess, and Amirra. Why would I dream about Amirra?

“Nick!” said a voice urgently, fighting through reverie, “C’mon man, wake up.” My head slowly started to clear, and I opened my eyes. Amirra’s face was bent above mine, eyebrows furrowed in exertion. She was treading water next to me, treading in water nearly black, the lake.

“Oh my God!” I yelled, breaking loose from her supporting arms. “Oh my God.” I said again, flailing in the cold water as the events of the day hit me. It wasn’t a dream, it was real. Now I was starting to flounder, completely disoriented. She caught me firmly by the back of my shirt, and started pulling me towards the bank.

I stopped struggling, suddenly aware of the throbbing pain in my head. I reached up to feel what I expected to be a lump the size of an ostrige egg. My hand came away bloody. Not just a small stain, literally dripping with warm blood. I dropped my hand, pushing the image from my mind, and tried to help Amirra. I kicked with her, and we reached the shell-strewn shore that had become so horribly familiar.

We crawled a few feet across the sharp shells piled on the shore and collapsed. We laid there for a while without speaking, panting heavily. Amirra was the first to break the silence. “Your head looks pretty bad.” “Yeah.” I said absently, I could still feel the blood trickling down my scalp. More silence, then, “I guess we didn’t make it.” “Yeah.” I replied again, not knowing what else to say. We’d failed. On the first step of our voyage we’d failed miserably, and if Selene was telling the truth, we were all going to die.

Amirra stood up and walked around the beach. I started struggling to my feet as well, but a glint from between a couple large rocks caught my eye. I reached down and picked up the miniature night sky Selene had conjured. The one she’d dropped in the lake. Either it washed up on the beach, unlikely, considering the stillness of the lake, or maybe – My thought was cut off when the sphere emitted a loud squeal and vanished in a small puff of smoke. Amirra whirled around, startled. I started a disjointed explanation, but she wasn’t listening, she was staring over my shoulder at the lake, eyes wide in fear. I turned to see what she was looking at, and almost fainted again.

The dreamweaver was emerging from the lake, just like before. My stomach filled with burning, sickening fear, and I stood with Amirra in shocked, disbelieving silence. Why had she come back? To finish us off before we caused trouble? Surely she could sense we were no real threat. She had completely breached the surface of the lake now, like some beautiful, horrible sea creature.

But then a miracle, She started moving in the opposite direction! Slowly but steadily she approached the opposite shore, where someone stood unmoving on the bank. “Run!” I wanted to scream, but didn’t dare attract the demon’s attention. The unfortunate object of the creature’s attention started wading jerkily into the water, seeming to fight its own limbs. Soon it was completely submerged, and the demon dived as well.

“Do not be afraid.” A soft, melodic voice sounded close behind us. I looked around, startled, and saw what could be nothing else but another deity. It was a man, but not an ordinary man, a mixture of every straight woman’s fantasies combined flawlessly into one scantly clad being. “Oh, my God…” whispered Amirra beside me, all traces of terror gone from her voice. The unearthly being walked to her, gently took her face by his hands and leaned over to whisper in her ear. Amirra didn’t flinch, which in itself was surreal. Amirra never let anyone touch her, but her she was, practically melting in this stranger’s grasp. He withdrew, leaving Amirra with a goofy grin plastered on her face, and turned towards me. Oh crap. He seemed to float rather than walk, but didn’t seem to be getting any closer. Then I realized that for every stride he took, I took one backwards. It took all my resolve to stop myself, planting my feet firmly in the earth. He reached me, a smirk creasing his super model face, and took my chin in his hands as he had Amirra. I jerked involuntarily; I really didn’t want to be touched by this nearly naked pretty boy. He leaned inches from my ear and said softly, “My name is Ganymede. Do not be afraid of the scene at this lake, for it is but a dream. You dream, actually. Selene sent me to lead you today, but I warn you, your journey will be perilous. Stay close to the girl, for she will be your only constant companion, and perhaps the only one you can truly trust.” Then he withdrew slightly, and before I could make my escape he kissed me.

I’m not gay, not at all, so you can understand my next actions. “Oh my God!” I sputtered, fiercely pushing him away, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I ranted loudly for a couple minutes, stomping away from him and spitting profusely. Amirra was laughing uncontrollably. I gave her a disgusted look and tried rather unsuccessfully to calm myself. Ganymede looked slightly shocked, but shrugged it off and walked past us, calling out for us to follow. “Go ask him where we are!” Amirra said between boughts of laughter. I glared at her. “No.” I said stubbornly. This threw her into another fit of hysteria. I’d never seen her laugh before, and despite the fact that it was at my expense, I was glad to see there might be another side to Amirra. “Why not?” She asked, trying to sound innocent, “He certainly seems to like you!” She broke off in another fit of giggles. I ignored her, and looked out into the unbroken mist that surrounded us. The lake and any other distinguishable thing had long since vanished, and the only movement was the silhouette of Ganymede far ahead. “So…” I sighed at the prospect of renewing Amirra’s taunts, “Who is this guy, anyway?” Amirra smiled, “Ganymede, cupbearer to the gods, as far as I can tell. I read about him once, he was born a mortal but became Zeus’ lover or something. Zeus bestowed immortality on him, so he’s kind of like Hercules, a demi-god.” She thought for a moment, then added, “I never read any connection between him and Selene, but Selene’s supposed to be a fan of beauty and God knows this man is-.” “I get it.” I said quickly, avoiding the edgy subject. “Like you didn’t notice.” She said smugly, “I’m going to go figure out where we are. Coming?” “No.” I said, sounding all of six years old. I deliberately slowed my pace and Amirra pranced off into the mists. Alone and clueless, I sighed once again and followed, significantly less chipper. By the time I’d reached my companions, Amirra was hard at work to bring out the straightness in Ganymede. She spotted me, and dropped back. “What’d you find out?” I asked quietly. “His chest is even better up close.” She said, matching my urgent whisper. I gave her a look, and she laughed. “Okay, okay, he said we’re in a dream world of sorts. Everyone’s dreams are here, old and new. All this empty fog is just waiting to be filled in the future.” “Right,” I said, shaking my head and chuckling in disbelief. “Right, so we’ve covered demi-Gods, demons, and now dreamlands. I think I’ve gone mad.” Amirra shrugged. “I dunno, maybe it’ll make sense later.” I nodded, though I knew that neither of us really believed what she had said.