We walked outside and Kaulder still hadn't said anything.
"Well, now you know." I said unable to handle the tension.
"You're a dream-walker." Kaulder said looking at me.
"We all know dream-walking is a black gift. I spent my whole life hiding from it." I sighed and leaned against the wall.
"You knew I would find out, but you didn't care. You pulled me out of that trap. That was brave." He said leaning against the wall with me.
"Thanks." I said quietly looking at the ground.
"Here, I want to show you something." He said grabbing my hand and pulling me along.
We drove to the church and went down below into what I was guessing was where the witches council meets.
We were walking past very intricate drawings.
"This is the history of witches."
"This is you, they even got your eyes right." I said running my hand over the picture.
"Yeah." He said with a small laugh.
"These, right here, are the dream-walkers. They were the queen's deadliest assassins. They could turn your dreams into nightmares."
"Is this a history lesson or are you trying to make me more afraid of what I can do than I already am?" I asked and Kaulder walked over to me.
"No, I'm just showing you. But there's something nobody knows about dream-walkers. They don't need memory potions. They can do that themselves. There's something buried in my mind and I need your help to get it out."
"I can't." I said quietly while shaking my head.
"Sophie…"
"I can't do it. I had a sister. Well, a foster sister. She just loved to piss me off. No one ever saw what she was doing, so I always got in trouble. One day she stole something and led me up to the roof where I fell. I should have died. I was in a coma and in that coma I dreamt of getting back at her. I beat her up. When I woke up she was in the hospital bed next to me. I didn't mean to, but I did it. So I did what every other 15 year old would do, and I ran away."
I walked past Kaulder and sat down on the ground. Kaulder walked past me and sat next to me.
"What were your wife and daughter's names?" I asked.
"Helena and Elizabeth. I haven't said those names in a long time."
"I don't even know where to begin."
"Think of a word you associate with me." Kaulder said standing up and taking off his jacket. "It can be anything and then empty everything else out of your mind. Focus on that word." He said kneeling in front of me.
"One word." I said searching my mind for which word fit him best.
I wanted to say love, but I knew he would feel awkward so I said exactly what I had felt since the moment I had been cursed.
"Alone."
He looked sad in his eyes, but I knew he was. He would be until he remembered. He slowly reached out and grabbed my hand putting it over his heart.
We were back in his memories. He was crouched by the graves and I held out my hand.
"Take my hand, Kaulder." I said softly.
He looked up at me then stood up. We looked to the source of light and saw the plague tree on fire. We walked down and through the burning labyrinth to find Kaulder's charred body.
"This way." I heard someone yell and people walked over towards us.
Kaulder put his arm protectively in front of me and made me step back.
"Brother Dolan." Someone said pointing to Kaulder's body.
"What is that?" Another man asked pointing to the witch queen's body.
"Dolan, tread carefully."
"He did it." The Dolan said and pulled the sword from her chest making her crumble.
The Dolan went to bless Kaulder when he came back to life.
"He's possessed." Someone yelled unsheathing a sword.
"Kaulder is alive. Our nightmare had ended with a miracle." The Dolan said.
Some of the men held onto him and helped him lie down as he struggled to breathe.
There was a heartbeat and I looked over at the pile of ash to see the queen's heart still beating.
"When we destroy the heart we will have destroyed her." Dolan said looking back at his men.
Dolan stabbed the heart and Kaulder began screaming. The screaming intensified when the heart was held over the fire.
"Destroy her." One of the men yelled.
"No." Kaulder said from beside me.
Dolan removed the dagger and Kaulder stopped screaming.
"He kept it." Kaulder said shocked.
"The queen is dead." The Dolan said to the men.
"They betrayed you from the start." Kaulder looked at me, "They tortured your friend because he knew where the heart was. They're gonna bring back the queen."
Kaulder looked at the Dolan and himself.
"Kaulder?" I heard someone say.
"What did you say?" Kaulder asked me.
"I didn't say anything." I said.
I looked behind me as I remembered when I saw Kaulder's scorched body.
Kaulder looked between the past Sofiel and my present self. Poor Sofiel who had just found her love had to watch him become the man he was standing before Sophie.
"Sofiel." Present Kaulder said looking at us.
"Come on." I said taking Kaulder's hand pulling him out of the memory.
"Who's Sofiel?" Kaulder asked me when we were back in the council room.
"Someone you don't need to worry about. You need to go talk to your Dolan. We need to find Belial and the heart." I said.
Kaulder and I walked out and he told me to wait in the main church area for him. I sat there and looked around at the depictions of God and Jesus. If only they knew what they really looked like.
"Go to my apartment. You'll be safe there." Kaulder said putting on his jacket.
"The deal was we'd stick together." I said following Kaulder.
"If I can't trust my own people how do you expect me to trust you?"
I grabbed his arm making him stop to turn and face me.
"This isn't who you are. I know you better than anyone."
"Then you don't know me at all." He said then walked away.
I sighed and ran my hands through my hair.
"You're not making this any easier." I said looking at the ceiling.