Chapter Eighteen: The Story of Liam
Liam sat at the long table, his hands trembling around the cup of warm soup. He was a young man in his twenties, but his eyes held the weariness of one who had lived much longer. His black hair was tangled and covered with melting snow, and his thin clothes were no match for the Path's cold.
"Drink first," Eron said gently. "Stories can wait."
But Liam shook his head. "If I start drinking… I might not be able to speak. And the fear inside me… will remain."
He looked at Sion. "You… are you the owner of this place?"
"I'm not an owner," said Sion. "I'm only… the one who started it."
"And the others?"
"They all started it with me."
Liam looked around. He saw the Ice Queen who now looked like an ordinary woman. He saw Caleb sitting in the shadows. He saw Kairn and Eron side by side. He saw Elara and her notebook. He saw Faren and Daren. He saw faces brought together by a journey he did not yet understand.
"You… are not ordinary humans."
Caleb let out a muffled laugh. "That's true. But we are not what we were, either."
"What are you, then?"
"We are an attempt," said the Queen. "An attempt at something new."
Liam took a deep breath. And began.
---
"I come from the kingdom of Elar. It is fifty nights' journey from here, beyond the Frost Mountains."
"Elar?" Elara interrupted. "A strange name."
"It was named after its first queen. A wise woman, the legends say. But that was hundreds of years ago."
"What happened?"
"Now… it is ruled by King Varius. A man who…" Liam paused, his hands trembling more. "A man who does not sleep."
"Does not sleep?" asked Kairn.
"He does not need to. It is said he made a pact with something. Something in the darkness. It gave him eternal wakefulness in exchange for… the souls of sleepers."
A sudden silence filled the room.
Faren, the former Renegade, spoke in a low voice. "This sounds like…"
"The Renegades," the Queen completed.
"Yes," said Faren. "In our worst days, we sought such pacts. But we never found anyone who would accept."
"He did," said Liam. "And every night, when people in Elar sleep… something visits their dreams. And takes a part of them. And in the morning, they wake up diminished. They forget their dreams. They forget that they dreamed. They forget… a part of themselves."
Elara was writing rapidly. "How long has this been going on?"
"Five years. Since he took the throne. At first, people thought the forgetfulness was natural. But mothers began to notice: their children forgot their dreams. Lovers forgot each other's dreams. The elderly forgot the dreams of their youth."
"And the dreamers?" asked Sion. "Those who dream more than others?"
"Children. And lovers. And creators. Those whose dreams are rich… lose the most."
"He feeds on their dreams," the Queen said, her voice filled with horror. "Like we used to do… but worse."
Caleb stood up abruptly. "We must go. We must stop him."
"How?" asked Kairn. "We don't know what he is. We don't know his power."
"I know one thing," said Liam. "On the night I fled… I saw him. I saw him without his mask."
"And what was he like?"
"He was… weeping. He stood on his palace balcony, looking at the moon, and he was weeping. But his tears… were black. Like tar."
"Black tears," the Queen whispered. "Like the Path when it was black."
"Yes. And as he wept, he said something: 'I did not want this. But it is the only way.' Then he saw me. And looked at me. And said: 'Run. Before I forget that I wanted you to run.'"
Liam fell silent. Tears filled his eyes. "He was my father."
"What?"
"King Varius… is my father. My father became a monster, and he knows it. And he weeps for himself. And he wanted me to run from him."
---
The room erupted with questions.
But Sion raised his hand. They fell silent.
"Liam," he said in a calm voice. "Why did you come to us? How did you know of our existence?"
"An old woman. In the market. She told me: 'Go to the Eternal Cold Path. Seek the house that glows at night. There you will find those who can help you.'"
"Describe the woman."
"Her eyes were strange. One blue as ice, the other brown as earth."
Everyone looked at the Queen. She shook her head. "It was not me."
"Nor me," said Elara.
"Then there is someone else," said Caleb. "Someone who knows us. Knows our location. And is sending the vulnerable to us."
"Or sending us…" Faren said slowly, "what they want us to face."
Sion looked at Liam. The young man was exhausted, afraid, but in his eyes there was something else: determination.
"What do you want from us?"
"I want…" Liam hesitated. "I want to bring him back. To bring my father back. I don't want to kill him. I want… to save him."
"Even though he has stolen his people's dreams for five years?"
"Even so. Because… because he no longer knows what he is doing. And he weeps. That means a part of him is still there."
Sion looked at the Queen. At Caleb. At Kairn. At everyone in the room.
And he saw in their eyes what they were thinking:
If there is hope for King Varius, then there is hope for everyone.
And if there is hope for everyone, then the journey is not over.
It has only just begun.
---
Sion stood. "We will rest tonight. Tomorrow… we decide."
"But…" Liam began.
"Tomorrow," Sion said firmly. "Now, you need sleep. And more importantly… you need to dream. For the first time in five years, sleep knowing that no one will steal your dream."
Eron took Liam to a small room. A warm bed. A soft blanket. And closed the door behind him.
In the main room, they gathered.
"What do you think?" Sion asked.
"We must go," said the Queen. "Not just to save his kingdom. But because this is what we must do now. We are… guardians of dreams."
"Guardians of dreams?" Caleb laughed. "Since when are we that?"
"Since we planted the tree. Since we chose to be."
Daren spoke. "But there are seven paths. Seven Confluences we must build. We cannot all go."
"Then we split up," said Faren.
"Split up?" asked Elara.
"Yes. Some of us stay here. Continue building the House of Beginnings. Receive travelers. Collect stories. And the others… go to Elar."
They looked at Sion. He was thinking.
"Faren is right. We must split up. But not yet. First… we all go to Elar. Together. We finish this mission together. Then… we split to build the seven."
"But what about the other paths?" asked the Queen.
"The other paths wait. And I believe…" Sion looked out the window, at the night, at the stars. "…that what is happening in Elar… is connected to the other paths. Perhaps it is the key."
"The key to what?"
"The key to knowing whether we will succeed… or fail like those before us."
---
At that moment, from the back room, they heard a sound.
The sound of laughter.
Liam was laughing in his sleep. He was dreaming. And for the first time in five years, his dream was safe.
Everyone looked at each other.
And they knew the decision was made.
They would go to Elar.
They would save a father who wept for himself.
They would save the dreams of an entire people.
And they would begin… the next chapter of their journey.
---
End of Chapter Eighteen
The new journey begins at dawn.
To the kingdom of Elar.
To a king who does not sleep.
And to an ancient secret: what happens when dreams are stolen?
And can they be returned?
And can the one who stole them be saved?
Sion and the Queen and Caleb and Kairn and Elara and Faren and Daren… and all of them.
They will face their greatest test as a group.
A test not about power.
But about the dream itself.
About what makes us human.
And what we lose when we forget to dream.
And tomorrow… the journey begins. 🌙👑💭