Chapter 73: The Hill of Death

The mustard-colored road stretched endlessly ahead.

Gene had stopped trying to judge distance.

The landscape itself seemed strange.

Sometimes hills appeared farther away than they should.

Sometimes nearby objects looked impossibly distant.

The Dream Road clearly obeyed its own rules.

Rules that had very little to do with reality.

Still, the road continued on, rolling far into the distance.

Gene and Selene walked hand in hand.

The Dreamer’s Mirror floated beside Gene occasionally projecting a faint map over his vision.

The newly unlocked mapping ability had proven useful.

Unfortunately, the map seemed almost as strange as the world itself.

Some landmarks moved.

Others vanished.

One location had somehow changed names three times in twenty minutes.

Athena was not pleased.

Gene found that oddly reassuring.

If Athena was confused, then at least he wasn’t alone.

After what felt like nearly an hour of walking, Selene finally pointed ahead.

“Gene.”

He looked up.

A hill rose violently from the landscape.

Not particularly tall.

Not especially impressive.

But it stood directly in the way of the road.

Its peak vanished into a layer of thick white clouds.

The road itself wrapped around the base before climbing toward the summit.

Gene squinted.

“Please tell me I’m imagining that.”

“What?”

“The way the road is heading up that hill.”

They looked over at each other. 

In that one second the world around them dimmed. 

They turned to see the hill was now only a few feet away from them.

“Well…”

⸻

The stairs built climbing the hill looked ancient.

Weathered.

Broken.

Several sections appeared as though one strong breeze away from collapsing entirely.

Wooden support beams leaned at dangerous angles.

Stone steps crumbled.

Half the railings were missing.

The entire structure looked as though it had been assembled by someone who only vaguely understood engineering.

Gene patted Selene on the shoulder,” I think we are getting better at this worlds craziness.”

A pungent smell suddenly hit Selene’s nose.

Selene pinched her nose and stepped away from Gene.

“What’s that smell…. I don’t think walking on this road is a good idea.”

Gene nodded.

“I agree. Let’s ask Athena to give us our best options.”

“Private marked task complete! I have successfully removed the large mass of waste your body excreted using the chaos armors auxiliary…”, Gene quickly told Athena to stop talking.

They had already experienced enough strange things today.

⸻

Selene smiled at the embarrassed Gene.

“I have an idea.”

Several glowing runes appeared around her.

A summoning circle expanded beneath her feet.

A dragon emerged.

Gene blinked.

The dragon was enormous.

The dragon stood proudly. 

The dragon was perhaps the most overweight thing he had ever seen.

The creature looked less like a fearsome beast and more like an oversized flying pillow.

⸻

The dragon yawned.

A tiny puff of smoke escaped its nostrils.

Then it immediately laid down.

Gene pointed.

“Why such a fat dragon.”

The dragon opened one eye.

Looked offended.

Then deliberately turned away.

“Sorry if I offended you!”

Selene giggled.

“His name is Biscuit. Isn’t he cute.”

Gene stared.

“I think you fed him all the biscuits...”

Several minutes later the two climbed onto Biscuit’s back.

The dragon grumbled but enjoyed the scratching they gave him behind its horns.

The ground creaked.

Then with surprising grace, the creature launched into the air.

⸻

Wind rushed past them.

The hill slowly shrank beneath them.

The road twisted upward.

Clouds gathered around the summit.

For a while everything felt peaceful.

Then Gene noticed something.

A smell.

At first it was faint.

Almost impossible to detect.

Just a distant unpleasantness.

The kind of odor one occasionally encountered near stagnant water.

Then it grew stronger.

Selene soon noticed it too.

“Do you smell that?”

Gene nodded.

“Not me this time! I honestly thought it was the dragon.”

Biscuit growled in indignation.

The smell continued growing worse.

The smell changed into one of rot.

Decay.

Wet earth.

Something old.

Something definitely dead.

The summit emerged from the clouds.

And the smell intensified immediately.

⸻

Biscuit landed carefully near the peak of the hill.

The smell was so bad that even the dragon some how made a sour face.

Then he scooted several feet away from the source of the odor.

⸻

Gene couldn’t blame him.

The top of the hill contained ruins.

Old ruins.

The remains of a wooden house stood partially collapsed.

Rotting boards protruded from overgrown grass.

The roof had long since caved in.

Only fragments remained.

The structure looked abandoned for centuries.

And directly beside it sat a well.

The smell came from there.

Gene and Selene exchanged glances.

Then approached cautiously.

The well appeared ancient.

Stone walls surrounded its opening.

Cracks covered the surface.

Dark stains marked several areas.

The interior vanished into darkness.

Gene leaned over the edge.

Selene followed.

Neither liked what they saw.

The well contained a thick black liquid.

Not water.

At least Gene hoped it wasn’t water.

The substance actually moved around sluggishly.

Almost like spinning oil.

The surface reflected nothing.

Not even light.

Selene frowned.

“That’s unsettling.”

Gene nodded.

“Very.”

Nearby rested an old wooden bucket.

Its rope had long since rotted away.

The bucket itself appeared surprisingly intact.

Gene picked it up.

Turned it over.

Then froze.

Someone had carved a name into the bottom.

Jack.

For several seconds he simply stared.

Then he laughed.

Selene looked confused.

“What?”

Gene held up the bucket.

“Jack.”

She looked closer.

Then realization slowly spread across her face.

“Let me guess. Someone from another one of your world’s stories.”

Gene nodded.

“Oh yes indeed .”

The two slowly walked away from the well as Gene began telling her the story.

⸻

“Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.”

Selene listened carefully.

Gene continued.

“Jack fell down and broke his crown.”

He made a tumbling motion with his hands.

“And Jill came tumbling after.”

A deepening silence followed.

⸻

Selene looked around.

The ruined house.

The well.

The hill.

The bucket.

⸻

Then she slowly nodded.

“This is definitely the place.”

“It has to be.”

⸻

The realization felt surreal.

Stories from Earth.

Fairy tales.

Nursery rhymes.

Somehow connected to this world.

Connected to Dreamseers.

Connected to the road.

Neither knew what it meant.

But the connection was becoming harder to ignore.

Eventually they continued onward.

Walking around the summit.

Toward the opposite side of the hill.

In the distance a fence stood there.

Old.

Broken.

Half collapsed.

It surrounded a large section of land.

⸻

Gene immediately felt uneasy.

⸻

The air seemed different.

Heavier.

Colder.

Biscuit growled softly.

They mounted the dragon again.

Then slowly descended the far side of the hill.

⸻

Halfway down.

Selene gasped.

Gene followed her gaze.

And felt his stomach tighten.

⸻

Ruins covered the hillside.

Destroyed structures.

Broken stone.

Collapsed walls.

Scattered debris.

And among those ruins rested two enormous skeletons.

They were massive.

Far larger than ordinary humans.

Each skeleton stretched nearly fifteen feet long.

One wore fragments of what appeared to be a dress.

The other wore tattered remnants of boyish clothing.

⸻

Gene immediately noticed the teeth.

Countless teeth.

Sharp.

Jagged.

Predatory.

The skulls looked more like monsters than people.

The boy’s skull contained a huge hole.

The side of his head had been shattered completely.

Selene stared.

“What happened here?”

Gene didn’t answer immediately.

His attention had shifted elsewhere.

To the girl.

Or rather…

To what was missing.

Her legs.

⸻

The lower half of the skeleton ended abruptly.

Several yards away.

Large leg bones hung over the side of the hill.

Both shattered in multiple places.

Silence settled over the landscape.

The wind seemed quieter.

The world itself appeared somber.

Eventually Selene spoke.

Softly.

“Jack and Jill.”

Gene nodded.

Neither moved for several moments.

The realization was deeply unsettling.

The story he remembered involved children.

Simple nursery rhyme characters.

Not monstrous giants.

Not skeletal remains.

Not death.

Gene finally broke the silence.

“Something is very wrong.”

Selene looked at him.

“The story wasn’t like this.”

He gestured toward the skeletons.

“They were children.”

“Normal children.”

“Not whatever these were.”

⸻

The dragon shifted uneasily.

Selene continued staring at the bones.

Thinking.

Then she spoke.

“Maybe they were never normal.”

Gene blinked.

“What do you mean?”

Selene looked toward the ruined landscape.

“Maybe your world told the the stories wrong.”

The possibility hung heavily between them.

Gene wanted to dismiss it.

Wanted to argue.

Wanted to say that couldn’t be true.

But recently he had learned an uncomfortable lesson.

Reality was often stranger than assumptions.

The Dream Road existed.

The purple cat existed.

The prophecy existed.

The gems existed.

Who was he to say stories couldn’t be remembered incorrectly?

⸻

Selene folded her arms.

“Makes sense  if you really think about it.”

Gene listened.

“Your stories survived for generations.”

She glanced toward the skeletons.

“Stories change.”

“Details get lost.”

“People simplify things.”

⸻

The wind rustled through the ruined fence.

Selene continued.

“What if the original story was terrifying?”

“What if later generations made it nicer?”

Gene stared at the remains.

The massive skulls.

The broken bones.

A nursery rhyme transformed into some kind of warning.

A tragedy reduced to a simple verse.

The thought made him uncomfortable.

And yet.

It made sense.

A little too much sense.

Eventually Selene looked at him.

“You always tell everyone that horror matters.”

Gene blinked.

“What?”

She smiled softly.

“You built an entire world around that idea.”

The statement caught him off guard.

Selene continued.

“You always say monsters aren’t automatically evil.”

“You say darkness has value.”

“You say people shouldn’t ignore scary things.”

Gene realized she was right.

He had said all of those things.

Many times.

She looked toward the skeletons again.

“Maybe fantasy works the same way.”

The words lingered.

“People remember heroes.”

“People celebrate princesses.”

“People talk about dragons and magic.”

Her gaze shifted toward the ruined landscape.

“But villains.”

“Monsters.”

“Nightmares.”

“Tragedies.”

She smiled sadly.

“They’re fantasy too.”

The statement struck Gene harder than expected.

Because she was right.

The more he thought about it.

The more obvious it became.

Fantasy wasn’t just beautiful castles.

Or magical adventures.

Or happy endings.

Fantasy included monsters.

Witches.

Ghosts.

Dark gods.

Curses.

Death.

The beautiful parts mattered.

But so did the terrifying parts.

Just like people.

Just like life.

Nothing existed entirely in black and white.

Good and evil weren’t always obvious.

⸻

Heroes failed.

Villains suffered.

Monsters loved.

People made mistakes.

The realization felt strangely important.

Almost as though the Dream Road wanted them to understand that part of reality.

As though the test itself was teaching them something.

Gene reached out.

Pulled Selene gently against him.

She leaned comfortably into his side.

The two stood quietly together.

Watching the wind blow through ancient bones.

Watching sunlight dance across forgotten ruins.

Watching a story reveal another layer of itself.

Eventually Gene smiled.

“You know.”

Selene looked up.

“What?”

Gene stared toward the distant road.

Toward the horizon.

Toward whatever awaited them next.

Then he squeezed her hand.

“I wonder if us meeting was planned.”

Selene blinked.

“What do you mean?”

Gene laughed softly.

“I got pulled into another world.”

“I met a librarian.”

“I built a horror hotel.”

“We have a monster princess.”

“I befriended a prince.”

“We fought cultists.”

“I found prophecy gems.”

He looked at her.

“Through this whole journey I met someone as wonderful as you.”

Selene’s cheeks turned slightly pink.

Gene smiled.

“It feels too ridiculous to be coincidence right.”

For several moments she simply stared.

Then she laughed.

A genuine laugh.

Warm.

Happy.

Comforting.

Maybe.

Just maybe.

The Dream Road wasn’t the only thing guiding them.

Far above.

Clouds drifted lazily across the sky.

And somewhere unseen.

A purple cat watched.

Its impossible grin stretched wider.

As though it knew something they didn’t.

As though it had heard a question, and perhaps already knew the answer.