Beyond the Dream

Beyond the Dream

  Oliver Kennedy

  Copyright 2012 by Oliver Kennedy

  “But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

  I have spread my dreams under your feet;

  Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”

  William Butler Yeats

  For Grace, my shining light.

  Once upon a time, a few minutes ago in fact, two remarkable fellows did a remarkable thing. They crossed over from a place that apparently isn't into a place which most definitely is. That might not make much sense right now, you can put it on what I am sure will be a growing list. Having performed this feat of excellence their hearts turned to other matters, darker matters...

  Prologue

  “Can you see into the future?”

  “No.”

  “Then be quiet and do as I do.”

  Ilich grumbled but did as he was bid. He felt strange. He always felt a little bit strange of course but now he felt positively peculiar. Elstein stalked on ahead. Elstein was a talented jackal you see; his ability to adapt was what had ensured the survival of his race during the Binding. Ilich, however, was not so used to change.

  As soon as the two of them had walked through the archway, Elstein bade him to shrink himself down to a more fitting size, one that would elicit less alarm from the natives. Even having done that, Ilich still loomed at nearly eight feet in height and was impossibly broad for one of this world’s inhabitants. However, it was a dark night filled with rain and hoods that were pulled all the way up. They kept to the alleys and the dark places and they received barely more than a glance from those unfortunate enough to be caught out in the storm.

  You see, Ilich is not a talented jackal. Ilich is a ten-ton-troll. These beings got their name because, in general, they tend to weigh in at about ten tons. Being such enormous creatures, it can be pretty hard for them to blend in. It can also be hard for them to do other things such as walk through doorways or up flights of stairs not made specifically for them, but fortunately for ten-ton-trolls they are blessed with a special ability. They can shrink themselves down or puff themselves up to full size at will. It takes some doing, and it is not easy to maintain for long periods of time, but an adult ten-ton-troll is capable of making themselves much smaller than their normal form. The stories say the ability came about as the result of a cross-breeding with a shape-shifter long ago.

  Although Ilich had shrunk himself down his weight could not be hidden. Elstein could feel the vibrations in the ground as the troll lumbered along behind him, but the night air was filled with thunder so their passage went undetected.

  They made their way quickly through the rain until they reached a tiny suburb of the great city. At the top of Hawksdell Road, Elstein stopped and sniffed the air. His canine features were hidden beneath thick hooded clothing, his long snout barely protruding from the shadowy hollow of his garb. The click-clicking of his clawed toes on the pavement was the only indication that any one nearby might have had that Elstein the talented jackal was somewhere he should not have been.

  They continued until they were halfway down the street and stopped outside number thirty-seven. The garden was overgrown, unkempt. The grass had swallowed rubbish, a deflated football and an old rusted bicycle. The two figures moved through the squeaking gate and crossed the cracked paving stones leading to the door. The rain poured from the porch, splattering the cloaks of Ilich and Elstein. The talented jackal lifted a hand to reveal a long, dark and bony finger with a black nail.

  Elstein whispered a few words of the canine-tongue and the nail grew longer and longer. It slid into the lock of the door and after a few seconds there was a click and the door swung open to reveal a lightless homestead. Elstein entered followed by Ilich, who had to shrink his huge bulk down even further to fit through the doorway.

  The ten-ton-troll closed the door behind them and both figures made their way upstairs. The wooden steps creaked and groaned in protest at Ilich’s weight. There were many doors leading away from the landing but Elstein moved without hesitation to the one at the end of the hall. As they passed other doors Ilich saw that some of them bore names in colourful letters - Zak, Ellie, Row. The door they approached had no name on, however. They walked into the room and looked at the single occupant who lay upon the bed.

  He was a middle-aged man. His once black hair was flecked with grey and even in sleep the lines of worry and stress stood out. The room stank of the unwashed. Clothes lay strewn everywhere and many dark bottles littered the bedside. In his sleeping arms he cradled a music box. The letters EH were etched on the box, though it was closed now and made no sound. Only the persistent beat of the rain on the window could be heard as Ilich and Elstein loomed over the man on the bed.

  “You are certain?” rumbled Ilich in his thick deep voice.

  “Do we need to go over it again?” replied Elstein in his contrasting high nasal voice.

  “No”, said Ilich, swinging his tusks from side to side, “the consequences could write a great doom for us.”

  “A doom which I will gladly accept if we are successful, now please stand aside.” Ilich did as he was bid and moved to the doorway. Elstein brought forth from beneath his cloak a piece of blue chalk with which he began to draw lines. He started on the wall above the bed and then went around the room to beyond the foot of the bed, across to the other side and then back up the wall again so that he had completed a large triangle which contained the sleeping man and his bed.

  At each corner he drew an image on the tip. At the top he drew the form of a jackal. To the right side of the bed he drew a raven and in the third corner he drew a flower. Once these were finished he drew hundreds of tiny symbols within the triangle, eventually covering everything except the sleeping figure and the bed. Hours passed before he was finished, but once his task was completed he stood back and the blue chalk took on a slight glow.

  Elstein pulled back his hood to reveal a long black snout which led up to two dark eyes sitting beneath large pointed ears. He looked over to where Ilich stood watching impassively. “Time to begin”, he barked through razor sharp teeth. He brought his hands together above the bed and when they met they emitted a tremendously loud thunderclap which was lost within the storm that raged over the city.