“Murk,” the old man said.
“My lord Timon,” Murk wheezed, like it was hard for him to breathe out of the water. There was a tiny clicking, too, that his beak made opening and closing. “Someone hurt you.”
The old guy frowned. “It’s trivial. And I killed several of them.”
“If you say so.” The octopus’s eyes shifted in my direction. “Is this for me?” His tentacles stirred.
I started to backpedal, my shoes crunching the sand and stones. Timon raised a grubby hand to reassure me.
“I have a use for him,” he said. “He’s helping me get around.”
“Then this is a rude, miserly sort of summoning,” said Murk.
“I’ll make it up to you,” Timon said.
“You’re well known for making such promises. Not so well known for keeping them.”
“I said, I’ll make it up to you! Meanwhile, it is what it is, and I am who I am.”
Murk grunted. “That’s for sure. What is it you want?”
“There’s a tournament underway.”
“I know. The Twin Helens told me.”
“My injuries make it impossible for me to continue. I need a champion.”
“You surely don’t mean me.”
“My old friend, who else would I even consider? You’re powerful and cunning. If not for bad luck, you might already be a lord yourself.”
“If not for my master holding me down, you mean.”
Timon frowned. Another drop of blood oozed from his right eye socket; he’d refused any of the bandages I’d clumsily used to patch myself up. “If you want your freedom, and a piece of the bay to call your own, you can have them. All you need to do is win.”
Murk laughed. It sounded like a muted trombone-wah-wah-wah-played by someone running out of wind. “What I want, my lord, is to see you broken.”
Timon looked genuinely surprised. “Why? I haven’t treated you so badly. Any of the others would be worse.”
“That remains to be seen, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t let spite stand in the way of your own best interest.”
“It’s not in my best interest to let myself be blinded or worse, now is it? I know who your opponents are.”
“Then have it your way, coward! I’ll get Festering Sam. See how you like it when he’s a lord, and you’re still kowtowing to me.”
“He won’t represent you, either. No one will. We all talked about it.”
Timon stiffened, and when he spoke again, it sounded choked. “Are you saying that every single one of my minions is a traitor?”
“No, my lord. I’m saying that even vassals and thralls have rights, and we’re exercising them. That’s all.”
“When I’ve sorted this out, I’ll give you a thousand years of nightmares.”
“Then it’s a good thing I don’t need a lot of sleep.” Murk’s eyes shifted back to me for a moment. Then he hauled himself back out into the water and slipped beneath the surface.
Up until then, Timon had held himself straight and defiant. Now, his whole body slumped. For a second, I thought he might fall down.
Like I said, I was dazed and bewildered. Yet even so, I’d figured out that there wasn’t much about the old guy that was likable. Still, I felt sorry for him. Maybe it was because we’d just come through danger together.
“It could be,” I said, “that Murk was just trying to rattle your cage. You may still have some… vassals who are willing to help you.”
Timon shook his head. “No. What he said had the ring of truth.”
“What did you do to them all, anyway?”
He showed me that a person can glare without eyes. “Nothing I didn’t have a right to do! Nothing that caused any harm! So what if they suffered a few terrors and humiliations in their dreams? Dreams aren’t real! Isn’t that what your people say?”
“I guess.”
“Any of the others would do worse. As the ungrateful scum will find out in due course. Unless… ” He cocked his head. “Tell me about yourself.”
“I’m just a regular person.” Even as I said it, I realized that regular people don’t create “wards” and drive cars during out-of-body experiences. But it felt true. “Tell me about you. About all of this.”
He shook his head. “You first.”
“You know what? To hell with that. I’m not one of your stooges-”
“Actually-”
“-and I’m done letting you boss me around. Answer my question, or I’ll get back in the car and drive away.”
That might be the smart thing to do anyway. But I didn’t want to, and not just because I felt bad for him. The things I’d seen were terrifying, but fascinating, too. How could a person suddenly discover that his own hometown was full of monsters, and that he himself had some kind of half-assed superpowers, and not want to find out more about it?
Timon sniffed twice, like his nose could tell whether I really would follow through on my threat, and then he scowled. “Have it your way. I assume you know at least a little bit about folklore. Demons, witches, and the like.”
“Well, I saw the Lord of the Rings movies. The first and the third one, anyway. And you’re telling me that all those things are real?”
“You’ve already met some of us. Do we seem real?”
I swallowed. “Yeah. But then why doesn’t everybody know about you? Why haven’t I ever seen you before this?’
“We prefer to keep our society apart from yours, and just dip into your world when we need something. It’s easier that way.”
“Okay.” Interested as I was in what he was saying, his funk was burning my nose again. I took a step back so I could inhale less of him and more of the saltwater smell of the bay. “And in your ‘society,’ there are lords who run everything. And you are one.”
He smiled a crooked smile. “You sound skeptical.”
“No offense, but you look like a homeless person.”
“I spend some of my time living like one. But that’s perfectly acceptable, because I’m not human. Something that seems unpleasant and degrading to one of you doesn’t have the same effect on me.”
“So you’re okay with dumpster diving and never bathing or changing your clothes.”
“Believe me, I have joys and luxuries you can’t even imagine. It’s just that I partake of them in the mansions and gardens of the inner world.”
“Meaning, other people’s dreams.”
He gave me a nod. “You understand.”
“Not really, but let it slide for now. A bunch of you lords are having a tournament? What’s that all about?”
He hesitated. “It’s complicated. To be a lord is to own one or more fiefdoms-”
“What, now?”
His mouth tightened like he wasn’t used to being interrupted. “Property. Pieces of the earth and all they contain. Lesser beings who live there do so with the lord’s permission, and owe him tithes and duties.”
“When you say ‘lesser beings,’ are you talking about your own kind?”
Timon hesitated. “I was, but not because the system doesn’t encompass humans. It’s just that you’re at the bottom of the ladder. Possessions, not subjects.”
The way he said it gave me a chill. I tried to snort the feeling away. “Well, I guess you can look down on us all you like, as long as you aren’t really trying to control us.”
“But we are. We do, like gods. You just don’t perceive it.”
“Why? I mean, what do you want from us?”
“It depends. As you’ve already seen, we vary from one to the next, and so do our needs. But most of us rely on you in one way or another.”
“You mean, you’re parasites.”
“Were you a ‘parasite’ on the swordfish I smell on your breath?”
“Is that comparison supposed to make me feel better?”
“I don’t mean that we literally eat you. At least, not all of us, and not in great quantities.”
“And what do you do? You, personally?”
“I already told you, more or less. Did it sound so very horrible?”
It sounded kind of like mental rape, but I realized I still had the same options as before. I could run away from all of this, or I could find out more. And I was still curious.