Chapter 16: The Dream

The banks on the other side of the open water were lined with alligators and snakes. Their eyes were shining in the bright headlight of the boat. The predawn light made it seem that every eye was watching the airboat approach. Even the channels between the little hammocks were choked with writhing masses of snakes. Except one.

"Gee, do you think that's where we're supposed to go?" Sean asked sarcastically.

"Probably," Rafe answered drily. "This guy doesn't have a firm handle on subtlety does he?"

"I would have preferred a sign saying, 'The bad guy is here'," Sean laughed, sounding stressed, even to his own ears.

"I like 'This way to the lair' better," Rafe said with a nervous laugh of his own.

They both recognized the gallows humor but they didn't care. They were exhausted. The stress since Monday had taken a toll on both of them. They had taken turns napping the day before on the relatively open water of the Outflow and the Red River, but neither of them had slept the night before. Sometimes, when your store of reserves are nearly gone, gallows humor is all that's left.

"Maybe we should have handled this differently," Sean said tiredly, as they eyed the narrow passage. "Maybe we should have brought everyone anyway. Trusting a Brujo's word is stupid."

"Woulda ... Coulda ... Shoulda..." Rafe replied with a snort. "That's a depressing game to play, and second guessing yourself doesn't gain you anything. Now it is time to focus. We don't have a lot of time left,"

Rafe was right. The predawn light was fading into a glow to the east. There wasn't much time left before sunrise.

The boat glided through the opening. Snakes hissed on both sides and one struck at the boat. Lightning began snarling low in his throat. Duncan began a quiet warning yowl that was fair warning for any creature that drew near. One snake head poked over the side of the airboat and it began to slither in. Duncan's paw flashed, claws extended, and the shredded head of the snake and it's body landed back in the water.

"Damn he's fast," Rafe breathed. "Good job, Duncan."

They emerged into another small body of open water. The banks were crowded with alligators and snakes, even more so than the banks they just passed. There was a single spot on the far side of the water that didn't have snakes and alligators fighting for room on the bank.

"Damn," Rafe muttered again, with less awe and a lot more trepidation. "I sure don't want to walk through that gap."

"I wish I could sense them," Sean muttered. "I'll create a shield for us," Sean said a little louder. "Run the bow of the boat up on the bank in the gap they've left open. We'll step off the front and see what we find."

Rafe goosed the air boat and it surged forward, gliding across the water and then sliding up the bank until the bow rested in the opening between two alligators. The bow wave washed a few snakes into the water but the rest coiled and waited to strike.

"Let me go first," Sean said, as he stood in the bow. "Stay close behind me. Lightning, Duncan, stay behind Rafe. Watch our back."

"Do you want to carry a shotgun?" Rafe asked.

"No, you carry both of them. I'm better with this," Sean replied, hefting his staff. He looped a cord tied to Megan's staff over his shoulder.

"Okay," Rafe said, after a deep breath. He looped the spare shotgun over his own shoulder and, flipping the safety off on the one he was carrying, said, "Let's finish this."

Sean nodded before converting some water to energy and forming a large shield around the four of them. He stepped off the boat. A snake struck and hit the wall of air. Clear liquid oozed down the barrier. Sean drew more energy from the water nervously.

"One advantage that I have is all this water," Sean said, trying to keep his tone of voice light and conversational. He may have fooled Rafe, since Rafe didn't know him as well as Seth or the other members of his family.

"Every little bit helps," Rafe replied. "Advantage or not, I'm scared spit-less."

"Yeah, me too," Sean admitted as they started walking. "I like your phrase better," he said lightly. "Spit-less. I heard a phrase at school that was similar but more vulgar."

"I think I know the one you're talking about," Rafe said drily, shaking his head in amazement at how sheltered Sean seemed in some ways.

It was lighter, but not yet sunrise. Sean didn't think it could be very far to their goal because none of these islands were very large. He followed the path through the brush and flinched every time a snake struck at them. It looked like there were thousands of them and rivulets of poison flowed down the air barrier Sean had formed.

The path opened into a clearing and, the scene in front of him chilled Sean to the bone. The woman Sean remembered seeing in Rafe's picture was chained to a post. A rusted iron shackle held one wrist. The two young boys clung to her and the man from the picture was lying on the ground. His head was in the woman's lap and he wasn't moving. Megan was lying on a slab of rock. Eli was standing behind her with his arm raised high. He was holding a flint knife, poised to stab downward.

"Hey, the boy Wizard arrives," Eli called in a jovial voice. "And the teacher decided to come too. Oh, this is precious. You know, Teach, all you had to do is kill these two and I would have given your precious family back."

"I brought him to you," Rafe spat. "Now you can do your own dirty work and I can have my family back."

"Sure, no problem," Eli said with a laugh. "I can't find the key for that shackle though, so you'll need to find another way to get the woman loose. I guess you can cut her hand off and get her loose that way. But then, you won't have my help getting past my friends," Eli said, sounding regretful. "You're welcome to try. I don't mind, and I won't try to stop you. Maybe if you use her hand to distract some of the gators, they'll let you through," he finished with a laugh that was chilling.

Rafe carefully moved around Sean and approached his sister.

"Are you okay, sis?" Rafe asked.

"I'm okay, Rafe, but they hurt Hank. He's alive, but he's hurt," the woman said.

Rafe knelt beside his sister and examined the shackle. He looked back at Sean and shook his head helplessly. Then he put an arm around his sister and nephews protectively.

Lightning moved up on Sean's left and Duncan stood on his right. Sean dropped one hand on Lightning's ruff and felt calm and in control for the first time in hours.

Sean thought there was something wrong about Eli. Every time he moved his head, it seemed that a shadow of his image didn't quite keep up with his movements. At first, Sean was worried that his exhaustion was playing tricks on his mind. Then, he noticed that Eli's eyes were wrong. Even across the clearing, Sean could see that his eyes were black and dead looking. They weren't black the way a person's eyes might be brown or blue. There was no white around the iris. The whole eyeball was black. Sean shivered when he realized what he thought it meant. The Nightmare had taken control of Eli's body.

"You did say that you would release Megan if I came here," Sean said carefully, and as calm as he could manage. "Well, I'm here. You can let her go now."

"I don't think I said that," Eli objected with a frown. "Hey, Teach, you were there when my message was delivered. Did I say anything about releasing her?"

"It was an inferred agreement," Rafe replied. "He shows up here and the girl goes free. Inferred agreements are just as binding a written agreements in any court in the land."

"I don't think my lawyer friends would agree with you, Teach," Eli protested. "I have a lot of lawyer friends and they always follow the letter of the law when evaluating contracts."

"Do you mean that you don't plan on setting her free?" Sean asked levelly.

"Oh yes ... um, sort of yes ... Err, well, not really," Eli said, seeming to be confused for a moment. "And before you get any bright ideas, boy," he said as he focused on Sean, enunciating the word 'boy' as if it left a bad taste in his mouth, "I'm protected the same way you are. You can't stop me if I decide to sacrifice her to the rising sun," he said in a much more menacing voice. His voice switched back to thoughtful, conciliatory tones when he said, "but killing her would be such a waste."

Eli's hand, the Nightmare's hand, glided over Megan's prone body, pausing at her breasts, and then her face before saying, "She really is a fine specimen of a human female. Once I have taken your body, she will be willing to give me many fine sons. I can control when my sons will be born and we will spawn a whole generation of Warlocks."

"That ... Will ... Not ... Happen!" Sean ground out from between clinched teeth. His anger flared to sudden rage that was nearly overwhelming. He unconsciously began drawing more power from the water that surrounded the island.

"Oh, but it will, boy," Eli said in a low, menacing voice. He grinned confidently when he continued with, "I have much more power and many more options, now that I have a body to work with. You have no idea what power I can wield now. And my power will grow..."

At that moment, sunlight brightened the tree tops.

Eli's grin turned into a rictus and he said, "Oh well. It's sunrise and I do have other obligations that I must meet. I have promises to keep that cannot be denied. I did only promise that she would live until sunrise, and I have kept my promise to you."

Then Eli's hand flashed down, and plunged the flint knife to the hilt in Megan's chest.

"Nooooooooo!" Sean screamed in rage. The scream felt like it was pulled from the bottom of his soul.

Sean felt like the world was falling away from him. All he could see was Megan, lying on her back, with the black handle of an obsidian knife rising from her chest. He seemed to be looking at Megan down a tunnel that was narrowing.

Sean reached out and converted water to power like he never had before. Every drop of moisture within a mile of the clearing turned into energy in a flash that thundered across the bayous. Every snake and alligator within his reach became instant dried parodies of the creatures they were. Thralls that had been hiding in the brush around the clearing didn't even have time to scream before their bodies became mummified husks. No living creature that touched water or ground remained outside the small clearing for a mile in any direction.

Rafe covered his family as best he could with his arms in an effort to protect them. He didn't need to worry because, even in his rage, Sean had erected a domed shield over his companion and his family.

Eli was laughing maniacally, reveling in the destruction he was witnessing around him. He seemed particularly proud of what he had done to Megan, lying on her cold slab of stone with a knife protruding from her chest. He began chanting and brandishing a crooked, burnt staff.

Sean could feel the energy change him inside, but he no longer cared. He became the focal point of a vortex of energy that he pulled closer and closer around him. Trees that had stood for a hundred years were ripped from the ground and flung through the air like toothpicks. Sean unconsciously strengthened the protective shield over Rafe and his family before looking back at the Enemy. The Nightmare.

The whirling vortex shredded the flimsy shield the creature that used to be Eli had erected. A massive tendril of air snatched Megan from the rock slab and she flew to Sean's arms. Another tendril of air drew the knife from her chest as she flew through the air. The obsidian blade crumbled to dust in the air when Sean surrendered it to the vortex. Healing power slammed into Megan and the severed flesh instantly became whole. Her body had only had time to miss one heartbeat.

The amount of energy Sean used did more than just heal her, though. Sean could feel Megan change as the energy coursed through her body and mind but he didn't care. He felt her heart beat again and that was all that mattered.

Megan snapped awake. She had been aware of what was happening to her, but was powerless to stop Eli. She had resigned herself to death when she saw the knife descending towards her. The pain hadn't even had time to register before the world exploded around her and she was suddenly in Sean's arms. She was where she was meant to be, but something was wrong. Megan knew that Sean had healed her, but there was too much power. She felt herself start changing inside. Her mind merged with Sean's, and she tried to help Sean handle the torrent of energy.

Sean set Megan on her feet between him and Duncan. He handed her the staff he had carried over one shoulder. Sean met Megan's eyes as they stood, side by side, at the center of the howling maelstrom. Lightning crowded against Sean's side. Duncan crowded against Megan's side. Sean looked deep into Megan's eyes for a heartbeat, for an eternity, and then Sean nodded.

Megan nodded back and quietly said, "I'll follow your lead."

The words were spoken quietly, but Sean could still hear them, even over the roar of the maelstrom around them. They both looked back at the creature that used to be Eli.

Thoughts ran through Sean's mind of how he could end this. It wasn't enough to kill Eli. He had to kill the Nightmare, or at least send it back to oblivion. A thought occurred to him. No single element could defeat the Nightmare. But, maybe all five elements could.

Stone; flecks of the obsidian could still be seen swirling around him in the vortex.

Water; there was plenty of water around. All he needed to do was reach beyond where he had converted water to energy. He reached out and pulled unconverted water that was rushing to fill the dry swamp ground that Sean had just created. He added the water to the maelstrom...

Fire; that would be easy to add. All he needed to do was add a touch of his rage to add fire to the conflagration.

Air; he grimly smiled as he noted the howling supply that roared around him.

Spirit; the final element, but how could he add spirit to the howling vortex of energy around him. There was only one way that he could think of to add spirit.

{Be my anchor, } Sean ordered, pleaded.

{Always, } Megan committed, promised, vowed with all her soul.

Megan's love was like a shining beacon in Sean's mind. He basked in the warmth, comfort and promise of that love before pulling the vortex in tighter. He could feel the energy coursing through his and Megan's bodies. It felt very similar to what Lian had done with Udit, but subtly different. Sean could feel his essence, his spirit merging with the vortex. He could feel the life line of Megan's spirit holding his own so he didn't become lost in the forces he had released.

Sean watched Eli as he prepared the energy whirling around their bodies. He could see the Warlock chanting something and waving his own staff, a burnt, crooked piece of wood. Sean released himself to the vortex, letting it howl its battle cry of rage and hunger. He was confident in Megan's strength to give him a path back to his body. He could feel when the maelstrom touched Eli, because he was part of the howling, swirling energy. Eli's mouth opened in unheard screams.

Sean could tell that Eli was trying to do something with his own powers, but he didn't recognize what it was. Lian had taught him to recognize when another manipulated one of the five elements near him. He knew when air, water, stone, fire or spirit was being readied to throw against him. What Eli was doing wasn't one of those. If anything, it was the antithesis of the five elements.

Sean held Eli's body in place by fetters of air. He was gratified to see Eli's clothes burned from his body by the howling vortex of energy and more fire was added to the maelstrom. Sean focused the vortex in tighter, hammering at Eli. He purposefully placed the tip of his staff on the ground and focused his power through the artifact. Eli's flesh slowly began peeling away from his body like ice melting in a hot summer sun. Sean watched until the last of the flesh was ripped from Eli's bones. All that remained was a skeleton surrounded by shadow in the caricature of a man, still waving a twisted, burnt staff.

The Nightmare howled a command and stabbed the staff into the ground and Sean's chains of air were shattered. A wave of blackness washed out from the Nightmare like the mad rising waters of a river in flood. Sean's vortex was forced back. The black wave of shadow was inexorable in its advance.

Sean didn't know what it was, but he could feel it where it touched the vortex. It felt like acid corroding his very spirit. The grass the shadow touched, shriveled and turned to dry, dead dust.

The Nightmare continued chanting in a language that didn't sound human. The words sounded painful for a human voice to utter, and they were certainly painful for Sean's ears to hear. They were not meant for this world, for this reality, and each painful syllable exhorted the advancing shadow forward another inch.

{I can't hold him. I can't stop him, } Sean said, thought to Megan in a near panic.

The rippling, churning black shadow had advanced over half the distance from the creature that used to be Eli. It wasn't fast after the initial surge, it was inexorable in its advance. Every attack Sean threw at the black roiling mass would only cause a minute hesitation in its progress. Worst of all, Sean felt when his attack hit the shadow and withered. It felt like a piece of his soul was withering when the attack died.

{But, your attack does affect it, briefly, } Megan replied.

{I don't have enough power! Even with all that I've drawn from all the water, I don't have enough power, } Sean said fearfully, as the shadow writhed and clawed its way closer.

{Remember what Lian said, } Megan exhorted anxiously. {Sometime, power isn't enough. She said that sometime power isn't the answer.}

{Fine, but what is the answer?} Sean desperately asked, straining to hold back the shadow. It felt like his soul was corroding where it touched the shadow.

{What are we fighting?} Megan asked.

Sean hesitated before answering. They were fighting Eli, at the beginning. He was pretty sure that that phase of the battle had been won, but they were no longer fighting Eli. They were battling Nightmare incarnate.

{Death. We are fighting chaos and death, } Sean replied tightly straining to hold back the tide of evil, even as the shadow edged closer.

{So, how do you fight death?} Megan asked.

{Fight death with life, } Sean instantly replied with a shiver.

Sean had always known that he could be killed in a battle with a brujo. That was abstract knowledge though. Anyone can say they will give their life for this reason or that person, but the words and thoughts are always in the abstract. This was reality and it was immediate. The writhing shadow was less than six feet from him now. Failure, now, would be worse than death. It would also mean a fate worse than death for Megan, the love of his life. He could make this sacrifice.

{No!} Megan's command rang loud and clear in his mind. {I know what you're thinking, my Love, and I won't have it. I'll be the anchor when that's what is needed. An anchor won't help you if you do what you're thinking and I won't be left here without you. We WILL do this together, } Megan ordered.

Sean turned his head and met her eyes. He could see the love there. He could feel the overwhelming love in their connection. He nodded gratefully, fearfully in acceptance.

Megan briefly switched her staff to her other hand. She looped her right arm through Sean's left arm that was holding his staff, then returned her staff to her right hand. She placed the tip of her staff beside Sean's. Not ahead of it, and not behind it, but level and equal. She settled her left hand on Duncan's ruff and, after a quick glance at the approaching shadow, nodded back at Sean.

Sean grimly faced the shadow again.

The black mass had nearly halved the distance again, leaving dead, lifeless soil in its wake. The painful sounds coming from the caricature of a man had become excited. It saw victory within its grasp and was anxious to grab the prize.

Sean took a deep breath, and relaxed, and closed his eyes. He merged with Megan like never before. There was no longer a boundary between them. Sean reveled in her quirky humor, and wild fire temper. He marveled at her determination to right wrongs, wherever she found them and whatever the cost. And he basked in her blazing love for him.

Through Megan, he could feel Duncan. A portion of Duncan eagerly joined in their union. The cat's pride and refusal to back down from any challenge strengthened them. His quick intelligence and uncompromising independence toughened their defense against the shadow.

Lightning's spirit joined them, too. The huge mastiff-wolfhound mix was almost seventeen years old; very old for a dog. Despite that, the big dog still played like a puppy. He still eagerly waited for Sean to return anytime the boy left his side. All the love, devotion, and stalwart determination to protect his master was included with Lightning's spirit.

Sean opened his eyes, and the vortex flared, and the shadow was stopped mere inches from their staffs. They were no longer four separate entities facing the Nightmare. They were one being. They had formed a synergy that was much greater than the sum of their individual strengths. But, the battle hung in a balance as the shadow hammered at their defenses. It didn't advance, but Sean/Megan/Duncan/Lightning couldn't push it back either.

The sounds and movements of the Nightmare grew frantic. The foul sounds the parody uttered grew more intense as it reached for a victory over this human and this world. Both victories were so close that it could nearly taste the sweet success.

Sean looked at Megan again and thought, {Are you ready?}

Megan nodded with determination and thought, {Let's finish this.}

Sean looked back at the Nightmare. He prayed the portion of Duncan and Lightning that were left behind would be enough of an anchor to find their way back. Then, he released his spirit, his life, and his soul into the maelstrom of energy. He surrendered his claim to life in this mortal realm. The combined entity that was Sean, Megan, Duncan, and Lightning became the vortex, and it ignited.

The shadow attack retreated under the assault of light and life. It fought back, but was as successful as shadows under bright searchlights. The shadow shriveled and melted under the onslaught until it reached the Nightmare, and stopped.

The entity that had been Sean, Megan, and their familiars, buffeted and hammered against the Nightmare to no avail. The Nightmare, in turn, franticly gestured and chanted in its inhuman language, fighting to regain the upper hand.

{Just ... a ... little ... more... } Sean/Megan muttered.

Each of them slowly, as if their bodies were in another place, on another plane, canted their staffs until they touched. It was like touching two high power electric wires, but sparks didn't erupt. A solid beam of light erupted from where the two staffs touched and struck the Nightmare.

A black fracture appeared in reality behind the Nightmare. Flecks of the Nightmare began streaming towards the crack, carried by the light, and the parody of a man began screaming. Sean/Megan could hear the scream with their ears, even over the roar of energy vortex, but it seemed even louder in their minds. They could feel the scream in their minds. It felt like long embedded fishhooks were being pulled from their brains. There was a ripping sound that seemed to come from creation itself as more and more of the Shadow was torn away by the bar of light and disappeared into the crack in reality.

Finally, all that remained was a skeleton, held in place by chains of light. They released the skeleton and watched as it shattered into a million pieces and was carried away on the howling wind.

Another crack appeared in reality. It blazed so bright they couldn't look at it. Sean/Megan felt the pull on their spirits, on their life force. It was irresistible.

{Balance, } Sean/Megan thought in resignation.

At least they would be together. And in the same thought, he mourned for the world that would be deprived of her life. And in the same thought, she was saddened at all the hopes and dreams that he wouldn't be able to realize. Then Megan's stubbornness came to the fore and Sean's determination strengthened her resolve.

{Hold, } Sean/Megan commanded their familiars.

They felt the portion of Lightning and Duncan that had been left behind stubbornly dig in and cling to the mortal realm. Their spirits, their souls were carried toward the crack in reality by winds neither of them could control, because they were controled by God himself.

Then, to their senses, everything disappeared. All sight, smells, touch, and sound ceased. The world around them disappeared as they flowed through the bright crack in reality.

Rafe held his sister with one arm but made sure the arm holding his shotgun was free. His nephews were hugging their mother, crying. His brother-in-law was unconscious with a nasty looking cut and bruise on his forehead, but his pulse seemed strong.

The conversation between Sean and the Warlock and his contribution to it seemed surreal to Rafe. He couldn't understand how anyone could be so ... Evil was the only word that could apply to this creature. He had confronted evil before, while in the army, and he hadn't understood it then either. He could fight evil, but he never learned to understand it.

Rafe watched Sean confront the man that had kidnapped his family. He had a high opinion of the boy and the girl from his classroom. They were good students that wanted to learn. They challenged his classes, him, and themselves. Rafe's opinion ratcheted higher as he watched and listened. He was horrified when the man, the Warlock, had stabbed Megan in the chest.

What happened next was terrifying and was the stuff of nightmares for the rest of Rafe's life. There was a boom that sounded like thunder but louder than a thousand lightning strikes hitting at the same time. Snakes and gators that he could see on the path became dried husks. The glimpse of water that he could just see in the bayou disappeared. Rafe was overwhelmed by the odd bits of information impacting his mind. At the same time, that boom that sounded like the foundation of the world was tearing loose, shattered his sense of reality. A powerful wind started whirling around the island. Rafe saw a cypress tree that was over six feet across ripped from the ground by the tornado-like winds. He was amazed because, as powerful as he could tell the wind was, he couldn't feel even a breeze in his protected zone. Rafe could tell it was a dome because he could see leaves and branches careen from its surface.

Rafe had been impressed in spite of himself when Sean had made an eraser fly to his hand in his classroom. He was astounded when Megan flew from the stone slab to Sean. Rafe saw a spurt of blood when the knife was drawn from the girl's chest, seemingly by invisible hands. But the blood stopped and Megan opened her eyes. Rafe could see her face. Her face had been blank, but when she opened her eyes and looked at Sean, he saw recognition and love burst across her features. Rafe could see the love, as if it was a physical, solid reality.

The pair of them, Sean and Megan, looked at the man that had stabbed Megan. The tornado that surrounded them got stronger. Rafe trembled and pulled his family into a tighter hug, but he tried to watch as best he could. He had never witnessed a battle like this! He knew that he and his family may very well be the only survivors. Rafe wanted to be able to report what had happened as best he could.

Rafe was surprised when the Warlock's clothes burned away. The tornado became more focused around Sean and Megan, and his former students began to glow. Bits of the Warlock's flesh began sloughing away like melting wax. Finally, only the skeleton remained, surrounded by a shadow! Rafe had seen bodies in all kinds of conditions and phases of decomposition during his life, but none of them had been surrounded by a shadow. He felt numb from all the 'unnatural' things he had witnessed since receiving that fateful letter five days before, but this was different. This Shadow made his flesh crawl. It was chanting and the sounds were so painful to his ears that he wanted to writhe in the ground in agony. And, then it got worse.

The Shadow Man stabbed it's staff into the ground. Blackness, like a noxious black pool of oil flowed from the Shadow thing. But it wasn't oil, because oil didn't move and claw to move forward. Rafe could see the grass wither and die where the black shadow touched. It was flowing out towards Sean, Megan and their animals, but it was also coming towards him and his family. He franticly dragged Hank, his brother-in-law, behind the post. Sandy, his baby sister and her sons helped. All of them tried to keep one hand over their ears to keep out the sound of the chanting. They got as far from the shadow as the chain holding his sister allowed. The boys were screaming in terror and clinging to their mother. Rafe didn't know if they were far enough away or not, but it didn't look like Sean was going to be successful in battling this abomination. He grimly steeled himself as he considered what would happen if that shadow reached them, touched them. Then he reviewed how many shells were in the shotgun. One for each of them, before the shadow touched them.