Chapter 46

I wonder why the dwarfs put a runic door at the bottom of a quarry in the first place, since I assume it was before it was closed down and the harpies showed up. Maybe past here into the much more chaotic crevices and pits held more precious ores and materials they didn't want just anyone having access to it? Although the mine having precious minerals and gems back there would both justify the security door and explain why the harpies moved in there after the dwarves abandoned it.

Either way, with how strong the door was both in materials, make and magic runes there was no one one was getting past it without the key… unless you had wings and just flew around it of course into an area that was apparently impossible to access without them.

Said main nesting ground environment was also very weird considering we went deep into the quarry only to head through a door into a more open area that was apparently below ground level. It was full of cliffs, crags, crevices, mist full pits, and had none of the organized layout the quarry did. I pity the fool that was up top and wasn't watching his step.

The area was pretty cramped as well with how narrow the paths were in some places which actually helped us when harpies landed to attack us, only to swifty meet their end with my oiled silver blade and liberal amounts of Igni. Any open areas I tossed out the nest bombs first, the harpies quick to grab for them and return to their nests only to hear the sounds of muted booms and screams of pain moments later.

"You would think that they would learn. Then again, their kleptomania seems so strong in general that actively fighting against it might be impossible for them." Ivar commented.

"Just might." I said idly before spotting something twinkling off to the side of a path. "Hello hello hello, what's all this then?" I asked as I went over and picked up a large crystal nearly the size of my head. It was glowing a reddish color that I was pretty sure was magical based on how my medallions were shaking.

"Is that one of the dream crystals?" Ivar asked curiously.

"The odds are good. There are likely even more further in." I said as I handed it to Ivar for safekeeping and we made our way deeper within. Ivar shivered as he tucked it into his bag.

"Everything all right?" I asked him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he brushed me off. "Just… well, for a moment it felt like someone walked over my grave."

Dogmeat was proving quite useful by barking usually a few seconds before the harpies turned a corner or were crawling down the rock walls, only to meet sling shots or my blade. I didn't let my guard down though since if it wasn't for the narrow pathways and my planting bombs in more open areas the harpies would gladly swarm us.

After a bit more time pushing our way through various harpies, bombing nests, and climbing over outcroppings we finally turned a corner into an area that had a much clearer view to the sky and was overlooking a mist filled crevice. Overlooking it and perched precariously over the edge was a man-sized cracked stone circle with runic markings covering the outer edge of it, and inside of it was another large crystal that was more white in hue. I ordered Ivar to stay back as I moved forward with my sword at the ready.

Good thing too, since as I got close a large shape swooped up from the crevice and landed on top of the stone circle. Screeching at me at the top of her lungs was the celaeno harpy queen, overall ruler of this nest and creator of the dream crystals.

Which is why I threw a bottle of oil at her followed by a stream of Igni, I wasn't wasting a good chance like that while she tried to act all intimidating after all. She went up like a torch and fell screaming into the abyss, unable to fly as her feathers burned up into useless ash.

… The fall probably killed her. That or there would be a terribly burned harpy stalking me for the rest of my days until one of us died.

"There are still nests in the back, likely along with some more crystals. Let's handle them before anything else." I called over to Ivar.

"And how do we do that?"

"Bombs-" I was interrupted by a blast of discordant noise from where the queen harpy had fallen into the pit, almost like a burst of static. We both whipped around to see a brief jumble of images flicker across the mist, like a movie reel with overlapping frames. Most of the images were nonsense, but two stood out clearly.

The first was of a man - tall, patrician, with a prominent nose and a severe widow's peak - gazing down upon someone with a look of utter disappointment.

He looked a little like Ivar.

The other was of - my heart stopped for a moment in my chest.

Was that… Lassie?!? My old sheltie dog, who had lived with my family from the time I was born and who had died when I was thirteen? … My best friend who I was too cowardly to say goodbye to at the vet for the last time to be put to sleep because she could no longer walk and was in pain.

Did… Did the harpy steal my dream? I was glad I killed the bitch now.

Beside me, Ivar's jaw had dropped. I could barely hear him whisper, "Father?"

Oh boy. Something tells me I just saw something very private about my best friend. I best not dig into it despite having a good guess at what his dream was about.

Ivar looked at me, the color starting to return to his face. "What was that?"

"I'm not completely sure," I said, "but I have a feeling the harpy queen might have stolen our dreams when we were camping last night. She did have some smaller crystals on her wrists - I think they shattered when she hit the bottom. And- well, you saw that happened."

Ivar swallowed. "Yes. Yes, I did."

I grabbed the white crystal out of the stone circle before turning to Ivar and offering a smile. "Come on, let's blow up some nests. That will make us both feel better."

Ivar just nodded at that.

---

It was almost pathetically easy to deal with the harpy nests not far from the dream viewing stone. Just throw the nest bombs around the corner and have the harpies drag them in, followed by them and everything in the nest blowing up. Thankfully the dream crystals within only got knocked around a little bit rather than outright destroyed.

Along with the two we had encountered so far we had collected a total of five crystals of various hues and according to Ivar, 'feelings'. Not sure if I was more immune to effects or if Ivar was just more sensitive to the magics involved.

Either way, we looted them, monster parts, and even lots of shiny things like coins, jewelry and other loot front the nests that harpies had collected. We left the heavy stuff like weapons, armor and such that weren't worth much before doubling back to stone.

When I explained why we collected the crystals and how they related to the stone in question Ivar naturally freaked out in excitement.

"But how in the world did harpies learn to trap dreams? How would they even steal a dream in the first place? How did they create this stone in order to view them and for what point or purpose? Are they secret voyeurs? Do some dreams hold greater value to them than others? Oh, if only they would be willing to talk! The things I could learn!" Ivar's voice was filled with excitement, but tinged with disappointment.

"No idea about any of that sadly. Although," I mused, "given they love to steal things… maybe it's less about something being 'shiny' and more about it being 'valuable'. From what I remember, they go after dreams that hold strong emotions - and we only feel strongly about that which we care about. Maybe for harpies, dreams are the ultimate theft? Something they take that is uniquely, quintessentially, you?"

"Fascinating, even if that leaves more questions than answers. Hmmm, how hard do you think it would be to move this dream viewing stone back with us?" Ivar asked idly.

"It weighs literal tons, Ivar." I said in a deadpan tone.

"That is no excuse! This dream viewer is not only a marvel of magic but also an important artifact of harpy culture! Surely we can't just leave it here!" Ivar said in despair.

"I'm sure the dwarfs will haul it out and sell it to some mage or even a oneiromancer once they start back up here." I said idly. Though now that I think about it that would be a great way to introduce magical tv to setting if someone figures out how to imprint dreams into crystals and can control what form dreams take… sadly I'm not a mage so there goes that dream of making my own tv in my head.

"I know this will be very hypocritical of me to offer given what happened earlier… but do you want to see what these dreams are about?" I asked as I held up a colored black crystal as the others sat in a pile near my feet.

Ivar nodded. "As difficult and painful as they may be, I need to understand what sort of criteria the harpies use for choosing which dreams to steal. I sense there's a pattern, but I need to make sure. And I'll admit - I'm curious as to what might be in them, too."

I nodded at that before going up to stone and placing crystal in a center indentation and stepped back. I saw the runes one the circle lit up with magic and watched as a projection appeared in the mist below, echoey voices springing to life in the process.

"This is our birthright, son. Our family has bled and died for these lands for centuries. I made sure to claim it for you and you must ensure the banner of the unicorn remains here as well for your own children. Let no one take it away from us ever again!" a strong and authoritative voice called out that I instantly recognized as Henselt's.

The image projected was the man looking over Lormark as the sun rose before him and he held onto the shoulder of a younger man by his side, his face oddly not all there. Practically nothing but a blur in truth. After that the projection faded and Ivar and I looked at each other.

"Was that King Henselt?" Ivar asked curiously.

"Seemed like it. I guess his ambition to control Lormark is pretty powerful emotionally, no surprise there. I find it odd that his son's face is blurred though."

"Maybe… maybe he doesn't care much about his son at all as a person, but rather what he represents to Henselt himself. His legacy as it were." Ivar said with a grimace. "I would know a thing or two about that."

He pulled the crystal out of the dream projector. "What do you want to do with it?" he asked as he examined it.

"Put it on the ground please." I said, Ivar following the request. I then Signed Veoth at it and watched as the ultrasonic sound shattered the hard crystal near instantly. "It's already enough of an invasion of privacy watching these. The least we can do is remove the recording."

Ivar nodded. "Agreed." He pulled out his notepad and pencil, and started writing down observations about the crystals. "The next crystal, please?" He sighed. "Ah, the things we do for science."

I picked up the next crystal, this one a rather pleasant blue color, and inserted it. Like before the dream projector lit up and we watched.

The scene projected onto the fog this time was remarkably peaceful, showing a family sitting at a table together and eating with smiles on their faces. Said people were an older looking man, two teenage girls, a teenage boy, and a man. Wait… was that Mavrick?

"Once Henselt holds Lormark thanks to scouts like me we'll move into a bigger house than just this old hut. I'll make sure Moira and Marissa find good men from the army to take care of them and I'm sure you can join up soon enough Murron. And you father can put your magic to good use, more than just being some common folk healer collecting old parchment in the basement. I'll make sure our lives are better than ever. I promise."

As the projection faded away it suddenly came to me. Mavrick, who was scouting for the Kaedweni while using his home as a base, talked about how during this war his father, Maglet, apparently killed his family after his sisters were, quote, 'dishonored' by Aedirnian soldiers. Mavrick had in turn killed his father in retribution for the man's murder of his siblings. In truth Maglet was a mage who had been dealing with a demon that had likely possessed him during the incident.

Either way the whole thing led to a tragedy of nearly a whole family dying and a mess to clean up years later… unless I wasn't too late to do something now.

"What a pleasant dream." Ivar noted with a smile.

"It's gonna become a whole lot less pleasant unless we step in." I said as I took out the crystal and shattered it. "I'll explain later." I said as I picked up a crystal that was an odd mix of bright red and orange and inserted it.

I watched as a projection of a Sabrina Glevissig appeared, her naked foot present as a black-bearded man in dark armor kissed it in reverence as she smiled down, satisfied.

"It's good to see that the 'Visitor' has finally learned proper manners. Keep up the good behavior, little boy, and we shall get along fine. You might just overcome Seltkirk with my help if you ask oh so nicely." her voice called out smugly before the projection vanished.

Ivar and I just stared at one another.

"Sorceresses, am I right?" I asked with a shrug.

"You would know more than I." Ivar said with a smirk. Smartass.

I took out and shattered Sabrina's crystal before I picked up the dark blood red one we got first and inserted it into the projector. The crystal sent forth its projection into the mist, turning it a bloody crimson. It revealed-

Oh God.

Oh, God.

Beside me, Ivar inhaled sharply, his breath coming in gasps of horror. Even Dogmeat let out a whimper before scrambling behind my feet and hiding from the spectacle before us.

The image was blessedly vague, but what little I could see was basically a charnel house. A field of stakes spread as far as the eye could see, atop which were corpses.

No. Bodies - some were still moving! Men, women, even fucking children! The groans of indescribable agony echoed through the chamber. In the foreground, a pair of hands could be seen atop a - a table with a cloth? And a plate loaded with food? One hand brought a forkful of food to the mouth of the dreamer, whose vision flickered with color as he presumably enjoyed a delicious meal.

A voice interrupted the dream. A man's voice, a tremulous tenor speaking a language I could not understand.

"Ce vei face cu ei, domnule?"

The dreamer replied, "Îi impulsionează cu ceilalți."

"Dar - domnul meu! Sunt doar copii!"

"Căței cresc pentru a fi câini. Cel mai bine să scapi de ei înainte să ne poată crea probleme."

"După cum doriți, domnul Drakul."

The projection faded, and I took in great breaths of air, desperately trying to keep my food in my stomach. What on earth was THAT?!?

"I… I do not think I want to know from whom that dream sprung." Ivar's small voice rang out.

"I actually do, if only so I know who to avoid or kill the second I see them. Do you recognize that language at all? It didn't sound like Common." I asked.

"No," Ivar's voice grew calmer as he brought his more intellectual faculties to bear on the problem, "I didn't recognize it at all. It wasn't any Northern language, and it didn't sound Nilfgaardian. Elder Speech of the elves has a certain tone to it that this lacked, as does Dwarven." He shrugged. "I'm sorry, languages were not one of my focuses in university beyond basic classes."

"No problem… although. Didn't Seltkirk warn us of a certain Kaedweni commander who liked to impale people?" I asked as I recalled the state of the bodies, something that was sadly not leaving my head any time soon.

"He did. Vandergrift. Wait - this was Vandergrift's dream?!" Ivar almost choked on the words. "But - what - how -" Wow, was he speechless? He really was shaken.

"At this point I'm starting to think the man is being possessed or something." I muttered darkly as I grabbed the crystal, chucked it a good distance away and used a full-powered Veoth on it. Watching it shatter so violently it looked like it turned to dust helped just a little. "I'm just glad he dies later assuming all goes according to the story."

"Agreed. You said he turns into a Draug? I can't say I'm surprised - a soul as evil as that wouldn't require much of an effort to turn into a demon." Ivar agreed with me vehemently.

"Let's hope this last one isn't nearly as disturbing. Though it would be hard to top after that." I said as I inserted the pure white crystal.

The projection was another one from the perspective of the dreamer. We couldn't see their face, but the angle suggested the dreamer was lying on a bed or a couch of some sort. A blanket covered their torso, while old, wrinkled hands lay atop the covers. The dreamer was looking at someone standing by their bedside.

My eyes widened. "I know that uniform!"

For indeed, I did! The person in the dream wore chainmail, over which was a pure white surcoat upon which a red cross had been embroidered. Beside him was another person, this one wearing a white robe and a black cloak. In his hands was a - a Catholic crucifix? And a rosary? Was that a priest?

The knight - who looked for all the world like a Knight Templar - spoke in archaic English. "Repeat after me: In the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

The dreamer repeated the phrase.

"I, William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, pledge myself, from now and forevermore, to the holy Militia of the Order of the Temple."

Again, the dreamer repeated it, but the words faded out as another voice broke in - Seltkirk's voice! As it didn't synch with the mouths of any of the speakers, I could only assume it was his own thoughts. "I swore the oath, but little did I know that it would transcend mine own death. Will I ever find an end? Or am I doomed to live again, and again, and again?"

The projection faded, and I realized that my jaw had dropped. Ivar looked at me quizzically. "Markus? Are you all right? Did you understand what they were saying?"

All I could do was turn to Ivar and say one thing. "Ivar, I don't think I'm alone."