The spring garden was blooming and fragrant. The Duum lowered his head.
[El-ludas! From now on, I can't even rest in my sleep. Okay, bye, wonderful Spring Garden of my father.] In a moment of will, the dream changed. Instead of vegetation, walls rose up. The ground was covered with ceramic tiles.
People in military uniforms scurried to and fro. None of them paid any attention to the king. Towers with scarlet flags pierced the sky. And a golden inscription in front of the central building read: [Open your heart and let Dral in.]
[The good old Temple of Knowledge. If not here, then where to hone your skills?] The Duum flexed his joints. [I can't wait to check my guesses.]
The King entered the main hall of the Temple of Knowledge and occupied a spacious hall. The
materialized spear pierced through the target. The Duum snorted. [El-ludas.]
The second, third, fifth, tenth attempt. [I'm trying to develop a new technique based on art from my past life, but I get the impression that it will be useless in the battle with a new aggressive nightmare. During the fight with the Gong clone, I felt the difference between "real" and "invented" attacks.
How do I check the new reception?
Wait until my dream is invaded?]
The Duum rubbed his chin.
[If my dream can be invaded, does this mean that I am also able to penetrate other people's dreams? In my past world, there were legends about en-monks. According to rumors, their souls could leave their physical bodies and surf the subtle world. But neither I, nor my father, nor any of my ancestors have ever seen such a thing.]
The king felt a strange change in his dream. [El-ludas. I can't wake up again.] Despite deep thoughts, he scanned the dream, so he immediately prepared for battle.
[It's time to test or refute one of my theories. The way to escape is cut off faster than I could understand.]
The Temple of Knowledge has dissolved. The dream took on the appearance of a flat area, viewed in all directions.
[Come on, stand before the royal gaze! The king has a surprise in store.]
A tin hatch was formed in the white earth. The width of an adult.
The king waited a moment, examined the symbols on the lid and rubbed his chin.
[Interesting. I don't remember anything like that. Usually my nightmares are based on memories. But this is the first time I see this hatch. And the symbols are generally in an unknown language.]
"Nice, very nice."
The king stepped away from the hatch and summoned a copy of himself.
"Forward to the unknown!" the clone grinned and strode to the hatch.
"Be careful."
"Yes, of course."
The clone touched the hatch. His hands became transparent.
[I knew it. Everything, any fictional object or ability does not come into contact with nightmares.]
[El-ludas].
The King sighed and sat down. Going to open the hatch is just an idiotic idea.
[Still, I'm curious what secret is hiding on the other side.]
In the real world, it was midnight, that is, it was half a dream. Then rustles were heard from under the hatch.
The Art of Absolute Invisibility! The king hid, and the clone stood in a fighting stance and grinned.
The hatch opened. A head with a dozen nostrils and eyes poked out. The ragged strips, bordered by teeth, shrank, twisted.
The creature left the hatch space. Pale skin tightened his ribs. Blood was leaking from his left side.
The Duum was waiting, assessing the current situation. [It's injured. And the cuts on the body remind me of something. Really?]
Seeing the clone, the pale freak clumsily ran. A couple of mages away from the target, two spears hit him.
"Khlaa!"
The freak stretched out to his full height. The King took off his disguise to recharge his art.
"So, what is the damage? My lifetime art broke through the back of my head, but my new skill, developed in a dream, flew by like an illusion. Sorry."
[But you can use "invented" things to distract nightmares. But does this trick work for all of them?]
Meanwhile, the hatch disappeared. But the nightmare did not disappear. [Wait, did I really attack the nightmare?] The King studied the nightmare better. The wounds on the ribs resembled painfully familiar hieroglyphs.
[My language?]
The King and his clone exchanged glances.
Only three words are written on the freak.
"Interesting, very interesting."
The last moment of his past life flashed into his memory: the ghost of a dead friend beckoned to him.
[Interesting, very interesting. Can my near-death hallucinations turn out to be something more than the extinction of the nervous system?]
"Khla!" the broken back of the freak's head was restored.
Absolute invisibility! The King was gone.
The creature got down on all fours and shook its head.
"Survived? Ha!" the clone of the Doom laughed, "And you are stronger than you look. Do you want to attack again? Come on, attack!"
The freak blinked a dozen eyes and stared stupidly at the clone.
"Khlaa?"
"Hmm?"
"Khlaa!" the creature rose to its full height.
"Khlaa!!!"
"Clearly. Let's stand here. I don't mind. My legs are strong enough to stand for at least a few days."
[But controlling the clone is much more difficult.] the clone crumbled into dust. [My poor mind! Being responsible for the movement and speech of two people is damn tedious!]
"Khlaa?!" the freak scratched his eyed head.
Suddenly he began to tremble. The monster's entire body convulsed.
The Duum raised his eyebrows. And soon a light flashed towards him. The king did not have time to react – the radiance entered his hand.
[Am I alive?] obeying a belated instinct, the Duum jumped back; sweat flowed out in hailstones. [El-ludas! If it was an attack, I would have died as soon as I played. Heh-heh. Mh?]
The king's fingers were clutching an oval object, cold and smooth.
And the once-trembling freak was on his knees. [El-ludas. I don't understand anything!]
The absolute disguise has long disappeared. The king took a couple of steps back – the freak crawled on his knees, trying to keep a distance between himself and the"owner".
[Master. The word "master?"] suddenly popped up in my head. The king raised the smooth object to his eyes and pretended that he had forgotten about the potential enemy. Any suspicious movement, and the king will throw a spear without hesitation and run away.
But for now, the freak froze motionless. The king was able to somehow study the subject. [It looks like a grandfather pocket watch, but where are the hands? And why the dial].
The freak's mouths twitched:
"Y-y-yapshi-ee-ee!"
King Duum almost broke the freak's skull, but stopped and laughed:
"Friend, you just sneezed, right?"
A nod.
The King raised his eyebrows: "Do you understand me?"
A stingy nod.
"Can you speak?"
He turns his drooping head.
[Well, at least we have established contact.]
"Do you know the purpose of this trinket, friend?" the king showed the "clock".
The ugly man's already gloomy face turned whiter. And he nodded blissfully. His left hand pointed at the king, his right hand pointed at himself. The freak made a finger lock and twitched his hands, as if testing the strength of the rope.
"Interesting-interesting, I understand correctly: do you want to show the "connection"? A nod. "Does this clock connect us?" Two energetic nods, "Hmm," the king looked at the torn side of the freak.
[May I examine the wound? That's great!] The Duum approached on tiptoe. Every muscle in his body tensed, ready to jump away from the monster at any moment.
The freak obligingly turned sideways.
[Hehe, no, I didn't crazy. These lines. These are the hieroglyphs of my native world!] the king's heart thudded.
Three words, three words, slashed across the freak's skin: "Rebirth", "Duum", "Trouble".
The king almost cursed out loud.
"Who left the cuts, who hurt you so much, friend?"
"Khlaaa!" The many-eyed monster moved his shoulders awkwardly. Apparently, he tried to shake them, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
[Or did he shiver like that? Interesting-interesting.]
"Sorry, can you rephrase the answer?" The funny "pantomimes" continued.
The freak explained in a more intricate form.
"Listen, my friend. It's fun to communicate with riddles, but it's very uninformative. In my homeland, the alphabet of Lu-lu gestures is practiced-for disabled soldiers. – It is impossible to learn it in one sitting. However, can I keep you with me? The Sleep center remains intact after waking up."
A nod and a hundred mouths-curved smiles. [Stop, why such joy?! It's true what they say, oddities are so strange. It can't be any weirder now!]
The hatch had already disappeared. Control over the dream was resumed by the owner: the king immediately took advantage of the returned power.
Click. And towers with red flags grew up on the wasteland
"The good old Temple of Arts. I've never seen a more beautiful place to learn."
***
"Show "danger".
The freak folded his fingers in a certain way.
"Well done, my friend... but this is a "no" gesture" the king scratched his head. "Here, look again. Remember that? Now let's start over again! Ten gestures!"
***
After a few attempts, the king repeated.
"Show the "danger" gesture."
"Khlaaa!" the freak's fingers cracked, trying to reproduce the gesture.
The monster made a mistake and the meaning of the gesture changed. [Yes. If my father had seen you, he would have torn off your hands without hesitation, being offended to the core.]
"Well done, just look. You put the little finger wrong, and the index finger should be positioned differently" the king pulled a kind smile on his face. "I think that's enough for today."
[Only ten. I guess I'm a lousy teacher. Or something limits the mental abilities of my multi-eyed friend. I dare to assume: he understands me only thanks to the clock, the language itself is unknown to him. Telepathy? I tried to send telepathic commands – there is no result.]
The time in the real world was approaching noon.
"It's time for me to leave, friend."
The monster's numerous mouths trembled, and its eyes flowed.
"To make sure you're safe while you're awake ... don't worry... try not to move, okay? Stay in the Center of the Dream: you will be completely safe."
The Art of Invisible Handcuffs!
The freak was gradually shackled by chains. First two, then five and ten. Minute by minute. Twenty and fifty are the maximum that the Duum has ever reached.
The application of the art took an hour and a half.
"By the way, what's your name, friend?" the king wiped his sweat: oddly enough, you can also get tired in a dream. "Don't forget, what do you think about Byumu? Do you mind?" the monster nodded. "That's great! Good day to Byum!"