2.7 This Island Ain't Big Enough

Part of me wanted to unmask the Night Terror to see if it really looked like me. The other part of me was curious to see how good of a job the Night Terror had done in imitating my face. But, since my time magic would prevent the linen from moving even an inch until the end of the dilation, I ruled against such an action.

Priscilla must have messed up his face real bad, I thought with a smile. That's why he's covering it up like a mummy.

I popped Kairos's first time dilation and marched promptly up to the burning figure pretending to be me.

No one pretends to be me and gets away with it, I thought darkly.

I could not forget how the phantasm had tricked Priscilla into thinking it was me before nearly killing her.

The mere thought of the incident made me livid.

The Night Terror was going to die.

When I reached the knave, I pressed Kairos's thin razor’s edge over the beast’s heart. I thought about the best way to dispatch the monster. I could easily sever its head, rupture its heart, or dismember one of its limbs with the time I had left.

But the more I thought about how I would destroy the monster, the less certain I felt that doing so was a good idea.

Iris had warned us that we would be unable to kill the Night Terror.

Gordon also seemed terrified at the creature's mere presence.

Priscilla's lightning strikes had done nothing but enrage the monster.

The monster seemed quite helpless in its current state, frozen in time like the rest of the world around me. Yet the magic that emanated from its frame was unmistakably immense, on par with an ancient dragon. That told me that whatever the Night Terror was trying to hide with its current shell was something twisted and ghastly, like an evil walnut waiting to be cracked open.

Five seconds.

An idea popped into mind.

I clipped Kairos to my waist with a sheathe alteration and prepared a two-part launch alteration. Launch was a kinetic shove that would first shove the monster high into the air with a powerful push before rocketing it away into the stratosphere with a second, more even more powerful push. The reason it was broken down into two parts was to ensure that the shockwave from the second push wouldn't hurt those around me. With enough magic and the proper angle, a launch alteration could easily send the monster over a mile away.

After looking at the monster’s masked face and menacing orange eyes a second time, however, I increased the alteration to two miles, just to be safe.

Hope the dream isn't too small, I thought, realizing that the outer boundaries of this private dream could very easily be under a mile wide.

Strange things happened near the outer boundaries of a dream or a nightmare. An object sent there could fall endlessly until the dream ended. It could also bounce off like a tennis ball and be sent back into the dream without losing speed. My hope was that launch would buy us enough time to reach the cathedral before the Night Terror could return.

When my magic was ready, I placed it underneath the Night Terror at a 45-degree angle upward and away from us.

"Good night," I muttered.

I ignited the alteration just as my time dilation came to an end.

Launch shot the Night Terror up into the sky like a bowling ball dropped onto a massive trampoline. Once the monster was airborne for a good three seconds, the second half of the alteration kicked in. There was a massive boom as the monster rocketed away with comedic speed. Within seconds, the imposter vanished from sight. It took its accursed lullaby with it, leaving us with blessed silence.

Priscilla looked terribly confused, as did Gordon. But when she realized that the Night Terror was truly gone, she burst out laughing hysterically.

“What was that?” she said. “Oh my goodness, three spikes, and it kept on walking like it was a zombie or something! And you, you just launched it to the moon! What the heck? Have you always been able to do that?”

“Now that some of my magic is back, yeah!” I said, proud that my magic had worked as intended. “We should get to the cathedral, though. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of that thing.”

"Don't jinx it!"

I looked back nervously at the horizon to where I had banished the Night Terror to. Thankfully, it was still nowhere to be seen.

"That must have broken every bone in its body!” Gordon exclaimed, poking his head fully out of the pocket dimension. He seemed to be in a noticeably better mood, though his fur still stood on edge.

“Even if we did, it's probably still alive,” I said. “Iris did say that thing is immortal.”

I covered my mouth.

Priscilla raised her eyebrows accusatively.

“So that is her name!” she said, clearly upset. “And I can’t say it again, why?”

“Just a hunch, but I think there’s a connection between you saying the name and the monster showing up.”

“So you’re saying this is my fault?”

“Possibly.”

Priscilla looked like she was ready to throw hands.

I removed my backpack and held it in front of me.

"The cat isn't going to save you!" she snarled.

"No, I am not!" Gordon yelped.

"I know!" I replied. "There's just something he said that's been bothering me."

Priscilla lowered her fists.

The cat looked at the ground.

“Gordon,” I said. “What was that about the Night Terror showing up too early in the dream?

The cat didn’t answer right away. He refused to make eye contact with either of us.

He's definitely hiding something, I thought. But to get him to tell us the truth...

Priscilla snatched the backpack from my hands and held it a good distance away from her.

“Gordon, sweetie,” she said. “Does saying Marlette’s real name really summon the Night Terror?”

He nodded stiffly.

“I’m afraid Titus is right."