Chapter 66 DREAM BATTLE

Chapter 66 DREAM BATTLE
CHAPTER 066: DREAM BATTLE

Caius stands in the center, looking more alive than he should.

"Welcome to my domain," he says, spreading his arms wide. "You're prisoners here until I decide otherwise."

Zev moves in front of me immediately, his dream walker power flaring. "Let her go. Your fight is with me."

"My fight is with anyone who opposes the Covenant." Caius tilts his head, studying us like insects. "But you're right about one thing. This is personal."

The floor beneath us shook.

"Dream combat," Zev mutters. "He's manifesting fears."

"Can you stop them?"

"I can try."

He throws up barriers made of light, constructs that push back against the nightmares. But for every one he blocks, two more appear.

My power flares without conscious thought. Silver fire erupts from my hands, and the nightmares recoil.

"Interesting," Caius says. "Your True Phoenix nature affects even dream realms. The Covenant will find that fascinating."

"I'm not a research subject."

"You're whatever we decide you are."

One of the nightmares lunges. I burn it away before it can reach us. The silver flames spread across the dream realm like wildfire, consuming Caius's constructs faster than he can create them.

He frowns.

"You're stronger than I calculated."

"Good," I snarl. "Maybe you'll think twice before trapping me again."

Zev's fighting beside me now, our powers working in sync. Where his light creates space, my fire fills it. Where my flames burn too hot, his cooling dreams temper them.

Through the bond remains that between us, I feel his determination. We move like we've done this a thousand times.

"The old gods are waking," Caius says, still unnervingly calm despite losing ground. "They need servants. Powerful ones."

"And you think I'll serve them?"

"I think you'll have no choice."

More nightmares surge forward. These ones are personal. My mother burning, the boys dying, Luna torn apart. Every fear I've ever had given monstrous shape.

I force myself to look at them. "They're not real."

"Aren't they?" Caius's voice echoes from everywhere. "They're as real as anything in a dream. As real as your fears."

"Then I'll burn my fears too."

Silver fire explodes outward. The nightmare versions of my loved ones dissolve.

"Tell me about the Covenant," I demand. "What are they?"

Caius laughs. "Ancient beings predating the current supernatural order. Gods, demons and entities. They were sealed away millennia ago by the first Phoenix."

My blood goes cold. "The first Phoenix."

"Yes. Your predecessor. The original True Phoenix who sacrificed everything to trap them between dimensions." He pauses. "They can only be released by a True Phoenix's power."

"That's why you need me."

"That's why you exist. That's your purpose. To free them."

"I don't accept that."

"Fate doesn't care about acceptance."

The dream realm shudders. Zev stumbles, his barriers cracking under the assault.

"We can't hold this forever," he says through gritted teeth.

I look at Caius. Something about him is different from before.

"You're not just dream-walking," I realize. "You're here. Your real body."

His smile vanishes. "Clever girl."

"Which means if we kill you here, you die for real."

"Which also means I'm not playing anymore."

The entire dream realm shifts. The nightmares disappear, replaced by something worse. Raw power, ancient and terrible, pressing down on us from all sides.

Caius's form changes.

"The Covenant lent me a fraction of their strength," he says, his voice layered with harmonics that hurt to hear. "Enough to ensure you understand the futility of resistance."

He attacks with pure force. Dream energy that slams into Zev's defenses like a battering ram.

Zev goes to his knees, blood trickling from his nose.

"Stop!" I throw myself between them, silver fire flaring.

The energies collide. Dream realm and True Phoenix power, neither giving ground.

"You're strong," Caius admits. "But strength without experience is just potential wasted."

He's right. I'm powerful but I don't know what I'm doing. Every move is instinct and desperation.

We're losing.

Through the bond I feel Zev's exhaustion, his shields crumbling. My own power is limitless but unfocused, burning bright but ineffective.

Then an idea hits me. Its terrible and risky but it maybe our only chance.

"If this is your domain," I say slowly, "I'll destroy it."

Zev's eyes widen. "That'll collapse the dream. We might not wake up."

"Trust me."

I don't wait for his answer. I pull on every ounce of True Phoenix power I possess and aim it not at Caius but at the dream realm itself.

"What are you doing?" Caius shouts.

"Burning everything."

The walls crack. The floor split. The sky above fractures like broken glass.

Zev grabs my hand. "If we die here…"

"We won't."

I don't know if I believe that but I say it anyway.

The dream realm shatters.

Caius screams, rage and disbelief mixing. "You'll kill us all!"

"Then I guess you picked the wrong Phoenix."

Everything dissolves into white light.

I wake up gasping.

Zev wakes beside me at the same instant, both of us sucking in air like we've been drowning.

"What the hell happened?" Kieran demands. He's crouched beside us, amber eyes wild. The other boys are here too, surrounding us.

"How long were we out?" I manage.

"Thirty seconds," Alaric says. His voice is tight. "You both collapsed simultaneously."

"Felt like hours," Zev mutters. He's still holding my hand.

"Caius," I say. "He was in our dreams. Attacked us."

"He's dead," Cassian argues.

"His body's dead. But the Hollow King's fragment survived. The Covenant is using it."

"They can attack through dreams now?" Luna's voice comes from the stairwell. She must have felt my distress through our twin bond. "That means no one is safe."

"We need to find him in the real world," I say, forcing myself to sit up despite every muscle protesting. "Stop him permanently."

"How?" Kieran asks. "He could be anywhere."

Luna crosses to us, something urgent in her expression. "The Eastern Pack. Survivors have been found."

Everyone goes still.

"Survivors?" I breathe. "From the attack?"

"Two of them. A scout found them hiding in the mountains. They're being brought here now." She pauses. "They're saying the attack wasn't random. The killer was looking for something. A relic."

"What kind of relic?" Alaric asks.

Luna's face goes pale. "One that can break the seals holding the Covenant."

The words hang in the air.

"Did he find it?" Zev asks quietly.

Luna nods. "They watched him take it. A stone tablet covered in symbols they didn't recognize. He killed their Alpha, took the tablet, and left the rest to die."

My stomach drops. "How long ago?"

"Three weeks. Right before he came after you."

"So he's had this relic for three weeks," I say slowly. "And the Covenant arrives in two days."

"Which means he's already used it," Zev finishes. "The seals are breaking."

"Not broken yet," Corvus says from the doorway. We all jump. None of us heard him arrive. "If the seals were fully broken, we'd know. The Covenant's emergence would be catastrophic."

"Then they're partially broken," I say. "Weakened enough that Caius can channel their power. Weakened enough that they can send messages and influence events."

"And in two days they'll be weak enough to fully emerge." Corvus moves into the room proper, his expression grave. "We need those survivors questioned immediately. Every detail about the tablet, the killer, anything that might help us understand what we're facing."

"I'll do it," Kieran says. "I speak pack."

"Take Luna," Corvus instructs. "They'll trust another wolf."

They leave immediately.

I'm still on the floor, Zev beside me, both of us recovering from the dream battle.

"You took a massive risk," Zev says quietly. "Burning the dream realm."

"It worked didn't it?"

"Barely. We could have been trapped in the collapse. Lost in the space between dreams and reality forever."

"But we weren't."

He pulls me against his side, presses his face into my hair. "Don't do that again."

"Can't promise that."

"I know. Doesn't mean I won't ask."

Alaric crouches in front of us. "How powerful was Caius in the dream realm?"

"Too powerful," I admit. "He was channeling the Covenant's strength. We only escaped because I destroyed his domain."

"And he knows you can do that now," Cassian adds. "He'll prepare for it next time."

"Then we don't give him a next time. We find him first."

"How?" Alaric asks. "Dream walkers can hide anywhere, be anyone."

Zev's quiet for a moment. Then, "Not anywhere. He needs a physical anchor point to dream walk from. Somewhere he feels safe. Connected."

"The Hollow King's old lair," I say suddenly. "Where we fought before. He'd go back there."

"It's destroyed."

"Doesn't matter. The connection remains. Dream realms don't care about physical destruction."

Corvus nods slowly. "Then that's where we look. At first light."

"Why wait?" I ask.

"Because you're exhausted. Both of you. You won't survive another confrontation in your current state."

He's right but I hate it.

"Rest," Corvus orders. "We move at dawn. And we end this."

He leaves. The boys help us to our feet, support us back to the dormitory.

I collapse on my bed fully clothed. Zev sits on the floor beside me, keeping watch.

"I'm fine," I mumble.

"Sure you are."

"Not going to sleep anyway."

"Also sure."

He's right about that too. Every time I close my eyes I see Caius's transformed face, feel the weight of the Covenant's borrowed power.

Two days.

Two days until ancient gods break free and come for me.

And somewhere out there, Caius has the relic that will complete their release.

I'm almost asleep despite my protests when Luna bursts back into the room.

"The survivors," she says, breathless. "They described the killer."

"And?" I force myself to focus.

"It wasn't Marvin. It wasn't anyone we know." Her hands shake. "They said he was young, our age maybe. Dark hair, silver eyes, covered in symbols that glowed."

My blood turns to ice. "Silver eyes?"

"Like yours. Exactly like yours."

"That's not possible."

"They're sure. Said he looked almost human except for the eyes and the symbols." She pauses. "And one more thing. When he took the tablet, he spoke. Said he was preparing the way for the true heir."

"What true heir?"

"He didn't specify. But Thalira—" Her voice cracks. "The symbols they described? They match the ones on your back."

I feel the silver marks pulsing with my heartbeat.

Someone with my eyes. With my symbols.

Working for the Covenant.

"There's another one," I whisper. "Another True Phoenix."

And they're helping to destroy the world.