Chapter Twenty: The Gates of Elar
On the fifth day, they crossed the mountains. And before them... the Valley of Dreams.
That was what it was called in ancient times. Liam told them: "Hundreds of years ago, people came here from everywhere. Because they dreamed pure, clear dreams here, dreams that sometimes came true."
The valley was green. Tall grass swaying in a cool breeze. Small streams running between the hills. And flowers in colors they had never seen before.
But there was something strange.
The silence.
No birds. No insects. No sound of any living creature but themselves.
"Even the animals... have stopped dreaming?" Elara whispered.
"Or fled," said the Queen.
At the end of the valley, Elar appeared.
A great city, its walls high from grey stone, its towers touching the clouds. But it was a sleeping city.
Not sleeping like slumber. Sleeping like death. No movement on its walls. No smoke from its chimneys. No sounds.
"Where are the people?" asked Kairn.
"Inside," said Liam, his voice trembling. "They're afraid to go out after sunset."
"And now?" Sion looked at the sky. The sun was leaning toward sunset.
"We have one hour before the gates close."
---
They ran.
The valley was wide, the city far. But they ran. Everyone ran. Even the Queen, who hadn't run in centuries, ran.
They reached the main gate. It was massive, of black iron, sealed tightly.
"Liam!" Sion shouted.
Liam approached the gate. He placed his hand upon it. And spoke words no one understood:
"Elar. Elar. Open for the son of your sons."
The gate... did not open.
But it trembled.
A faint tremor, as if something inside recognized Liam's voice, but could not obey.
"They have taken control of it," Liam said, weeping. "Even the gate no longer obeys."
Sion looked around. The sun was setting fast. In minutes, darkness would fall. And in the darkness...
"Let me," said the Queen.
She stepped toward the gate. Placed her hands upon it. And closed her eyes.
"I have no ice power now. But I have... a memory. A memory of a thousand years of cold."
She opened her eyes. And they glowed with the old blue-white light.
"Remember, gate. Remember that you were ice before you were iron. Remember that the cold was here before everything."
The gate... began to freeze.
Not ordinary freezing. A thin layer of ice covered its black surface. Then crack... it split open.
And the gate opened.
Not a full opening. A gap. A gap just large enough for one person to pass through.
"Enter. Quickly."
They entered one by one. The last was Sion, who helped the Queen through before the gate slammed shut behind them violently.
---
Inside, Elar was beautiful and sad.
Wide streets, houses of white stone, fountains in the squares. But everything was grey. Even the people they saw through their windows were grey. As if life had leaked out of them.
"They don't dream," said Elara. "So they are... half alive."
"Half dead," the Queen corrected.
"Where do we go?" asked Caleb.
Liam looked at the palace in the center of the city. It was the tallest building, and the blackest. Above it, black clouds circled slowly.
"There."
They walked through the empty streets. The inhabitants watched them from windows. Wide, empty eyes following them in silence.
"They see us," Kairn whispered.
"They see us, but they don't perceive us," Elara replied.
They reached the palace square. It was vast, paved with black gravel. And in its center... a fountain.
But it did not flow with water. It flowed with dreams.
Transparent bubbles rising from the fountain, each bubble carrying a small image: a child playing, lovers whispering, an old man fishing. All stolen dreams.
"Good grief," the Queen whispered.
Suddenly, all the windows in the palace lit up.
And the main palace door opened.
And out came...
King Varius.
But he was not as Liam had described him. He was changing. His face shifting between humanity and monstrosity. His eyes burning with black fire. His body constantly melting and reforming.
"My son," he said, his voice like a thousand people screaming at once. "You returned. You brought with you... guests."
"Father..." Liam stepped forward.
"No!" Sion shouted, grabbing him. "This is not your father."
"But he is his father," said the monster king. "I am all that remains of him. The rest... sleeps with the dreams I have consumed."
"Why?" Liam screamed. "Why are you doing this?"
The monster king looked at him. And suddenly... his face changed. For a moment, he was human again. A father again.
"Because I..." He wept. Black tears. "Because I wanted to save you. All of you. From a bad dream."
"What dream?"
"The dream of the end," he said in a human voice. "I saw a future. A future where everyone dies. In cold. In darkness. In oblivion. And I wanted to freeze the dreams... to freeze the future."
He looked at Sion. At the Queen. "You... you are from the Path. You are the ones who awakened the cold. You are the ones who destroyed the balance."
"No," the Queen said firmly. "We are the ones who freed the truth."
"The truth kills," the monster roared, regaining control.
"The truth liberates," said Sion.
He raised his hand. In his hand... a golden seed.
"I will plant it here. In the heart of your city. In your heart."
"No!" the monster roared. And lunged toward them.
But Caleb, Kairn, Faren, and Daren stepped forward. Their weapons of memories ignited.
"Plant it!" Caleb shouted. "We'll hold him!"
Sion ran toward the fountain. Toward the stolen dreams. And placed the seed in its heart.
The seed... sprouted instantly.
A golden stem pierced the fountain. Rose up. Branched out. And every branch that touched a dream bubble... returned it to its natural color.
And the dreams... returned.
From the fountain, thousands of colored bubbles shot out in every direction. Toward the houses. Toward the windows. Toward the sleeping, half-dead people.
And in the palace, the monster king stopped.
He looked at his hands. They were trembling. His face flickered between monster and human rapidly.
"Father!" Liam shouted.
The king looked at him. For the first time, he truly saw him.
"Liam... I... I'm sorry."
And he fell.
Not dead. He fell like an exhausted human. And the monster dissolved into a shadow that vanished in the air.
And the dreams spread throughout the entire city.
And for the first time in five years... Elar dreamed.
---
End of Chapter Twenty
King Varius lies on the ground, weeping human tears now.
Liam embraces him.
And the golden tree grows in the center of the square, releasing dreams in every direction.
And the people emerge from their houses for the first time in years. Their eyes tearful. They smile. They remember how to dream.
Sion and the others stand back, watching.
And waiting.
Because the big question remains unanswered:
What was the bad dream the king saw?
And what end was he trying to prevent?
And did he truly prevent it... or only delay it?
In the palace, on the upper floor, in a locked room... something moves.
Something that was feeding the monster king.
Something that has not yet died.
Something named... The True Dream.
---
Chapter Twenty-One: "The True Dream" π³ππ