THE LORD OF DREAMS.

By Jake Collins.

            Mona Parker knew that she was different from all the many other kids in her school. It wasn't that she was denied any of the usual chances in life, or given any extra ones. It was just that she was a vampire. Not that she wasn't a regular ten-year-old as well, mind you. She didn't drink people's blood, turn into a bat or sleep in a coffin. She didn't burn particularly easily in the sun or find garlic particularly revolting. It was just that she had a link with the dark dimension of evil which existed within her town. Lover of all things spooky and macabre, when she donned her vampire fangs and kitchen-curtains-cape, she knew that she had transformed into Mona the Vampire, fighter of ghosts and monsters everywhere. When they emerged from the not-so-distant netherworld to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting town, it was up to Mona to tackle them, defeat them, and consign them to imprisonment in her magic Book of the Slimy. With her vampire bolts, undead strength and copious knowledge of all things supernatural, Mona was a terrifying foe for any creepy-crawly-slimy thing that crossed her path.

            But Mona was not without allies. As well as her faithful brown cat and sidekick Fang, Mona's two best friends, Lily Duncan and Charley Bones, were always on hand to help out. Donning their superhero costumes, they too proved worthy foes for any beast from beyond the grave. Putting on her blond wig and high heels, the usually gentle and passive Lily became Princess Giant, and the bespectacled computer expert Charley put on his green alien costume to become Zapman, master of all things that zap. Together, Charley, Lily, Fang and Mona were the town's only defence from the great danger that lurked within its shadows.

One Monday morning at school, Mona was telling the class all about her eventful weekend.

  "Then the werewolf leapt from the bushes and tackled me to the ground!" Mona proclaimed. "He was snarling and growling and his breath smelled foul…"

  "Thank you, Mona" said Miss Gotto, the teacher. "That’s enough."

Angela, Mona's arch-nemesis, scowled and leaned over towards her unwilling underdog, George.

  "Listen to her!" she spat. "Making up these stupid stories. I hate her."

  "But why?" George queried. "It's not doing you any harm. I think you're just jealous of all the attention she's getting."

  "Shut up, George!" Angela snapped. "You don't know anything anyway. I hate Mona and I want to make her suffer. Every time I try to ruin her stupid vampire schemes she gets the better of me and it all blows up in my face!"

  "Perhaps she's cleverer than you are" George suggested.

  "She is not cleverer than me!" yelled Angela.

  "Angela!" Miss Gotto scolded her. "How dare you shout in class like that! Go to Principal Shawbly's office immediately."

Angela was fuming as she left the room. She whispered to Mona as she walked by.

  "This is the last straw, Ms. Vampire" she hissed. "I'll get you for this!"

            Later, Mona, Fang, Charley and Lily were walking home together.

  "Angela sure was cross after she got sent out of the classroom" Charley said. "I wonder why she hates us so much."

  "She's jealous of my supernatural powers" Mona replied flatly. "All heroes have a nemesis; Angela's mine. By the way, don't forget to join Fang and me for our MGM at eight o' clock tonight."

  "Sure thing" said Lily. "The Monthly General Meeting is vital if we're going to keep track of the monsters in this town."

  "Darn right" Mona said. "Don't be late, will you?"

Mona was the boss, and they knew it. All of a sudden, Fang hissed and arched his back.

  "What is it, Fang?" asked Mona.

Her question was answered as Angela stepped from the shadows to meet them.   

  "Oh look, it's the Scooby Gang" she jeered.

  "Go away, Angela," said Mona. "No one wants to talk to you."

  "You will pay for what happened to me today!" Angela threatened as she pointed at Mona. "I don't deserve to be treated like that; my family's rich!"

  "You shouldn't have been talking in class then" Mona retorted. "C'mon, guys, let's go."

Angela watched the four of them walk away. George slunk up to join her.

  "There you are" she greeted him roughly. "Did you get it?"

George handed her a hefty tome from the school library.

  "Arcane Spells and Curses" read Angela. "Good. Now Mona will regret messing with me."

  "You don't really believe those things work, do you?" asked George.

  "Of course not!" scoffed Angela, rubbing her hands with glee. "But Mona does. When we crash their meeting tonight we'll show them who controls the supernatural dangers in this town."

            The storm raged in the half-light of dusk outside Mona's bedroom window. Mona the Vampire sat at her desk, completing an entry in her diary. She thought it was very important to keep meticulous records of her escapades so that others could read about them.

  "After all" Mona told Fang, who was loyally watching her. "It's only by studying the heroics of others that you can hope to become a hero."

Fang purred as he rubbed himself against Mona's legs. Then lightning struck outside and Fang meowed in fright as he shot under the desk to cower in fear.

  "Oh, Fang!" scolded Mona. "A vampire sidekick shouldn't be afraid of a little storm. Why can't you be more brave?"

The doorbell sounded downstairs and Mona heard her father welcome in Charley and Lily. Soon enough, the stairs creaked and her door opened.

  "Hi, Zapman, hi, Princess Giant" Mona greeted them as she swivelled round in her chair. "Come and sit down."

Charley and Lily sat on the carpet and looked up at Mona expectantly.

  "Now, to business" said Mona. "The MGM is in session. Apologies first, I think. Anyone?"

  "I think we're all here, actually" noticed Lily.

  "Right" said Mona. "Next item: potential new supernatural dangers in town. Zapman?"

  "Two possible sightings in my sector" reported Charley. "Mysterious localised disappearances of manhole covers in the area and a spiritually-animated privet hedge in my neighbour's garden which leans over the fence and keeps taking bites out of me."

  "Princess Giant?"

  "One or two in my sec..." Lily began, but was cut short by a violent rapping at the door.

  "Who is it?" called Mona, somewhat annoyed.

To everyone's surprise, Angela burst into the room. She was red in the face and looked very tired. She was out of breath and had obviously been running.

  "Oh, Mona!" she cried. "You have to help me."

  "Me? Help you?"

  "Yes!" Angela panted. "There's some squelchy, slimy monster roaming the streets. It's got George!"

  "What, for real?" piped up Charley eagerly.

  "Of course it's real!" snapped Angela.

  "Wait a minute," said Mona dubiously. "You've just come here to make fun of us and waste our time, haven't you?"

  "No, no, it's really out there!" Angela screamed, running over to Mona and clutching at her collar. "You’ve got to help me!"

  "Okay, we'll take a look" agreed Mona reluctantly. "But you'd better be telling the truth."

The four of them left the room. Disturbed, Fang got up and cantered after them. They all went out into the dark street. Angela screamed and pointed at something. Sure enough, a dark shape was looming up the street towards them. Two piercing eyes glowed in the dark.

  "Whoa!" exclaimed Lily. "What is that?"

  "Looks like some kind of humanoid entity" noted Mona. "Fascinating."

  "Mona the Vampire!" The being's voice was a tinny, echoing wail. "For your crimes against my kind, it is my duty to make you pay. You are to be sent to a place where there are so many of us that even you cannot survive!"

  "It's chanting a spell!" exclaimed Charley.

  "What shall we do?" fretted Lily. 

  "It's making the first move!" cried Mona. "They never make the first move; I do!"

  "Looks like there really is a first time for everything" sneered Angela.

  "You inhuman abomination!" Mona spat at her. "I'll teach you to mess with Mona the Vampire."

Mona leapt at Angela, who covered her face in a gesture of protection. But the attack didn't come. Angela looked up to see a huge whirling void, into which Mona, Charley, Lily and Fang were being sucked.

  "Aah!" she cried. "George, you idiot, what have you done?!"

  "Sorry" said George, as he shed his disguise. "The spell seems to have worked."

  "Worked!" screamed Angela. "What do you mean worked?"

  "It was real," said George. "They've gone."

  "Oh God!" cried Angela. "What have I done?!"

Mona felt soft ground under her head. She dragged herself to her feet, and looked around. Charley, Lily and Fang were lying nearby. They appeared to be at the edge of a forest. It was still night. Far in the distance, through the forest, Mona could see a mountain with a majestic castle on its peak. The others were beginning to stir.

  "That Angela" cursed Mona. "Look what she's done!"

  "What'll we do?" panicked Lily. "We've never been in this much of a fix before."

  "Yeah" said Charley. "We don't have any way of knowing where we are."

Mona's mind was on other things.

  "How strange that Angela and George had the intelligence and will to work a spell" she mused. "I wonder if they even know where they've sent us."

  "I wonder where they have sent us," Charley said.

  "I believe I can answer that" came a voice from nowhere. Fang's back arched and he stiffened as a figure materialised amongst them. He wore robes of red and a medallion of gold, and his white hair and beard were streaked with red. "This is Knightmare."

  "It sure is!" said Lily with feeling.

  "My stars!" exclaimed the newcomer. "It's Mona the Vampire. "It is indeed an honour to meet you; Hordriss the Confuser, at your service."

  "How do you know me?" asked Mona, perplexed.

  "Your works do not go unnoticed" Hordriss told her. "We in Knightmare are great admirers of yours. Knightmare is a world of fantasy and illusion, inhabited by creatures of myth. This is just a part of it. The mainframe is that fortress over there. Once it was called Dunshelm, but now it's more usually known as Knightmare Castle."

  "Wow!" Mona exclaimed eagerly. "How exciting."

  "Who are these people you bring with you?" asked Hordriss, seeming to notice the others for the first time.

  "My staunch allies" Mona explained. "Zapman, Princess Giant and Fang."

  "You are all welcome" smiled Hordriss. "What brings you to this world?"

  "Well, to be perfectly honest, we really aren't meant to be here" Mona said. "You see, my arch-nemesis Angela sent us here for revenge because she thinks it's my fault that she got told off in school today."

  "Oh dear" Hordriss sympathised. "How unfortunate for you."

  "Can we go home, then?" asked Lily hopefully.

  "Not just like that, I'm afraid " Hordriss replied. "You say you were brought here by magic?"

  "Yes."

  "Interesting. One would not attempt to worry you, but I think it's quite possible that that means that you will be affected by the physical laws of the realm."

  "What do you mean?" asked Mona.

  "Well" said Hordriss, stroking his beard. "I know that in your world your costumes are only for show, but here they may well cause you to become what you imagine you can become."

  "You mean I'm a real vampire?!" Mona exclaimed. "Wow!"

  "It seems to me that we need to get you home" Hordriss went on. "You cannot survive in this state between dimensions for long."

  "Can you get us home?" asked Charley.

  "Sadly, despite one's arcane powers, one cannot" Hordriss admitted.   

  "Then who can?" asked Mona. "Who's in charge around here?"

  "Your only hope is Shiek Kahib" Hordriss told them. "The Lord of Dreams."

  "Where is he?"

  "He lives in Knightmare Castle. If you are to find him, you must first traverse Fetlock Forest. But be warned: it is not only a forest, but also a sanctuary for all sorts of faerie creatures of both benign and malign intent. The only way to get through safely is by following the elf paths, so you may well step into the realm of the elf kin. Elves are tricky and treacherous, so keep your wits about you. I suggest you try to make the castle before sunrise; Mona may not appreciate the gift of daybreak as she usually does. Remember, the darkest hour is just before dawn. When you get to the castle, enter by the southern door. If you call for me, I will assist you in traversing the dungeons to find the Lord of Dreams. My calling name is Malefact. You must call clearly three times, then I will appear. Now, do you understand?"

They all nodded.

  "Very well then. Good luck."

Hordriss disappeared in a flash of lightning. Mona turned to her friends. They saw that she was smiling.

  "Well, Zapman, Princess Giant, Fang" she said to them. "Are you up to this adventure?"

  "I guess," said Lily, slightly nervously. "But we've never done anything like this before. How're we gonna do it?"

  "The same way we always do," said Mona. "By knowing our enemy and staying several steps ahead of him."

Mona strode into the forest, Charley following and Fang loyally padding along behind. With slightly more apprehension than usual, Lily set off after them.

            Fetlock Forest was a dark, cold, forbidding place. The bushes rustled on either side of the elfin path. Bringing up the rear, Lily felt sure that she could feel something breathing down her neck. A shape fluttered from the darkness towards them and screeched as it flew over her head. She screamed, and the noise reverberated around the forest like a banshee's wail.

  "Don't be scared," said Mona, watching the animal land on a branch up ahead. "It's only a bat."

They continued along the path, shimmering silvery light showing them the way.

  "I don't understand" ventured Charley. "Why is this path all lit up?"

  "Because it's an elf path" Mona explained. "The elves have made it to show travellers the way through the forest without stepping into their realm; they hate intruders, you see, and by keeping to their paths we can be sure to find the way out. Of course, others may want us to stray from the path, and there's nothing to stop them from walking it to do so. If we step off the path we can quite easily become lost in the never-ending depths of the wildwood, never to find the way out."

  "Well let's stay on the path then" said Lily.

  "Obviously we'll do our best" said Mona. "But there might..."

She was cut short by another scream from Lily. They swung round to see that she had been grabbed by a winding, sinuous tree branch. In a split second, she was dragged off her feet and pulled into the depths of the forest.

So, will Lily be lost forever in the heart of the wildwood? Will the adventures reach Knightmare Castle? Read the second chapter of The Lord of Dreams next issue to find out.