Backpack Cat

Deep, unbridled panic rose in my heart as I realized that the one person who knew the whole story about Eleanor no longer remembered who she was. There was something about her not remembering that made me feel sick to my stomach. It was a deep anger, not directed at Priscilla, I realized, but at the one who had taken her memories, away-Marchioness Hilda.

“Eleanor was someone that meant a lot to me,” I started. "It's part of the reason we're in this mess to begin with."

Priscilla shook her head.

“Well, I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t remember who she is. Let's talk about her later.”

I wanted to say more, but Priscilla didn’t look like she was in the mood to listen. I bit my lip as she turned her attention to Gordon, clearly displeased with the cat.

“Get him something else to wear, preferably something that isn’t offensive to him,” she said curtly.

And with that, Priscilla opened the front door and stepped out onto the front porch. The cold wind returned with a vengeance, digging in my skin like tiny frozen daggers.

I shuddered.

“Meet me at the front gate when you two are done,” she said as she pulled her hood over her head. “It’s at the big, scary observatory just down the path, you can’t miss it.”

I gave her a thumbs up.

She nodded before doing an about-face and marching out into the rain. This time, she left the door open behind her. I was a bit upset she wasn’t interested in hearing more about Eleanor, but I realized that now was probably the worst time to bring her up.

Gordon picked up the Night Hunter’s coat and meekly dragged it over to my feet.

“My sincerest apologies,” he said. “I didn’t even consider the fact that you were a mage. Now that I think about it, it makes sense that the Queen’s lover would be magically-inclined.”

“I’m not her lover!”

“Yes, yes,” he said quickly. “But if you will indulge me, this blue coat will offer you the best protection against the inhabitants of the castle, I promise you that. The ghouls will be unable to bite through the coat's material even if they had all evening to do so. The coat is also enchanted to the nth degree so that all but the strongest of magics will roll off your shoulders like water on a duck's back. If you insist, I can also alter the insignia into something more palatable when we have time.”

I grit my teeth. It was true that a Night Hunter coat was one of the best-enchanted garments money could buy, I remembered all too well from experience. But to wear the clothing of the enemy was something I really didn’t want to do. To do so felt like dishonoring Eleanor’s death.

You can’t avenge her if you die in this dream, I told myself.

After a pause, I picked the coat up from the ground and slipped it over my shoulders. It was warm, lightweight, and fit perfectly. It made me hate it all the more.

“I don’t know why you own one of these,” I said.

“I think you do,” the cat said quietly.

“You’re a Night Hunter."

All at once, the events surrounding Eleanor's death returned to me, how they callously broke her fingers in search of a confession she could give not them, how they ignored her pleas for water as she was burnt at stake, how they congratulated each other after the execution for ridding the world of another witch. It was the Night Hunters that insisted that she was lying about her innocence until the very end whereas the Paladins were open to releasing her after she had stood trial. It was a Night Hunter who refused to turn a blind eye to let two terrified children leave the city with their lives intact. If the Night Hunters had not been so zealous in ridding the world of magic, there was a good chance Eleanor would still be alive.

It took all my self-control not to lash out at the cat standing before me.

I reminded myself that it took him a lot of courage to admit that he was a Night Hunter, especially in his weakened form. He could very easily have lied about the coat. I took a deep breath and thought about what to do. Anger still burned deep within my heart toward that cult of violence. The fact that we had more pressing matters at hand did little to quell the flames.

At last, I decided that I would find some way to get back at the cat once we were in a safer location.

“You owe me an explanation,” I said curtly.

"And I will answer all questions you have once we are safe," he said. "Believe me, I am glad to leave that chapter of my life behind."

My anger subsided just a bit.

"Glad to hear that," I said, a little sorry at my outburst. "Grab whatever you need. I'm ready to go."

Gordon bowed his head. Then he scampered over to the fireplace and dragged a leather knapsack over to me.

I stared in shock as I realized that it was an exact copy of the knapsack Eleanor had given to me. I had no idea why it was here in the nightmare or why the cat was in possession of it, but I was glad to see it. The cat lifted open the flap with his jaw before jumping inside. When he reemerged, only his fluffy face was visible.

“This backpack is where I store all of our valuables,” he said. “Armors, weapons, maps, elixirs, food, magick bow ammunition, my bed. It is also the one way I can travel outside of the lodge without being repeatedly struck by lightning. Normally, I would stay behind in the safety and warmth of this lodge, but I feel that you can use my knowledge of the castle and of defeating certain creatures of the night.”

“A brush up would be nice,” I admitted.

“Excellent,” he said. “I feel we will become fast friends.”

“Don’t push it."

I picked up the backpack from the ground. It was nearly weightless, nowhere near as heavy as it should have been with a cat inside of it.

“A pocket dimension,” I said. “I've always wanted one of these since they're impossible to create in the real world.”

“Precisely,” the cat said. “But in the nightmare, many impossible things are possible.”

“Whatever you say, Backpack Cat.”

“I prefer Gordon,” he replied, “but Backpack Cat will do, as long as you let me call you the Queen’s lover.”

“Sure, why not?”

With Backpack Cat on my back, I stepped back out into the rain. The rain was nearly a tempest now, the winds howling like a pack of hungry wolves. But my boots were warm and I had a warm coat to keep the cold out.

“You going to be alright, Backpack Cat?”

There was a small, invisible barrier around the cat’s head that kept him dry, a magical barrier to keep the rain out.

“Dry as a fiddle,” he replied, grinning.

An epiphany struck me.

“You know, I know can make magical barriers too,” I said. “Why didn’t I use one earlier to keep myself dry from the rain when I was freezing to death?”

“You lack imagination,” he replied. “Let us hurry. If there is anything I’ve learned about our Queen, it is that she is not a patient woman. She may be tearing through the castle as we speak.”

“Aye.”

I could see the silhouette of the observatory at the foot of the mountain, just barely. I knew it was the observatory from the massive dome located on the top of the structure. If the lodge was big, the observatory was enormous, even from the distance. It might as well have been a fortress. I wasn’t too thrilled about diving headfirst into a place crawling with monsters, but the key to reaching the city lay within. And within the city lay the key to escaping this nightmare.

As I trudged down the path, I thought about contacting Iris to see if I was doing anything that would potentially break the magical oath I had made with her. She had been unusually silent so far, and I was worried that I had done something to upset her as well. However, I decided not to reach out because I figured my benefactor would contact me if I was close to making a fatal mistake.

“Gordon, what kind of monsters live in the observatory?”

“The kind your kind unleashed upon the world while dabbling with magic,” the cat replied. “Fiends, shadow stalkers, the blood-sucking ones."

“Vampires?”

I felt something nip my neck. It took me a moment to realize it was only Gordon’s paws pretending to be a vampire. Gordon laughed as I swatted his paws away.

“Imma toss you in the river if you do that again,” I said.

“You set yourself up for that one,” he replied shamelessly. “But yes, there is a fraternity’s worth of vampires haunting the observatory. You best have some garlic before you step inside.”

I looked at the shadow observatory again. To think that such a noble place was teeming with vampires was enough to make my skin crawl.

“Don’t worry about me,” I said. “There was plenty of garlic in the mashed potatoes. I am a bit worried about Priscilla.”

“Don’t be," Gordon said. "Even in her weakened state, your lord has managed just fine without you. It is our reckless friend, Fraysser, I am worried about.”

There was that name again, Fraysser.

“Why the heck did he go back?” I asked.

Gordon groaned.

"One, he is dumb, even for a Paladin," he said. "Two, he made a promise to a friend."

"To put Esther to rest," I said, remembering the name they had mentioned before.

"Yes," Gordon said, "though he couldn't have picked a worse time to fulfill it now that the blood moon has risen."

I looked at the night sky for a full moon. Sure enough, a blood moon sat in the sky, peeking past the gray clouds racing through the sky. The moon was unusually large and looked like it was about to touch the very ground we stood on. The moon also looked unhealthy, for lack of a better word, almost as if it was nearing death.

"The first cycle of the dream is about to come to an end," Gordon said. "And when it does, everyone and everything caught outside the city will be erased from the dream."

"That sounds really bad," I said.

"It is. To be erased is to die in the real world, the Waking World, as they call it, as well."

"When is that going to happen?"

"Tonight."