Alyce Lydell's Arc

Chapter 1 of 10

Alyce Lydell pressed her palm against the crumbling stone archway at the edge of the Dream Gardens. Beyond it lay the Shattered Vale, a forbidden zone where most dreamers feared to go. But Alyce wasn't most dreamers. She wanted to find the ancient truths hidden in Dreamland's darkest corners, the secrets that existed before the rules were written. She needed a place to work from, somewhere outside the watch of the Dream Wardens. A base where she could store what she found and plan her next moves into the forbidden zones. Most dreamers kept safe houses in the bright districts, but Alyce needed something different. Something hidden. She found it three blocks past the last lit street lamp. An abandoned garage sat wrapped in shadows and decay. Flickering neon lights buzzed above the entrance, casting pink and blue across broken concrete. Rust ate through the metal doors. Graffiti covered the walls in languages she didn't recognize. Perfect. No one came here. No one watched. Alyce pushed through the door and it groaned open. Inside, oil stains marked the floor and tools hung on bent hooks. She could set up tables here. Store her maps and artifacts. Make this her headquarters for exploring the places others wouldn't dare go. This was where her real work would begin. She climbed the metal stairs to the roof. Her boots clanged against each step. At the top, she spotted a viewing station mounted on a pole. The binoculars had neon pink highlights along the metal frame. She wiped dust from the glass lenses and looked through them. The view pulled distant buildings close. She could see rooftops and windows blocks away. Dark towers rose beyond the lit districts. Forbidden zones stretched across the horizon. From here, she could watch for Dream Warden patrols. She could study the places she planned to explore. The garage gave her everything she needed. A hidden base. A way to see what others tried to keep hidden. Now the real search for ancient truths could start. Through the binoculars, she spotted something that made her breath catch. A subway entrance sat six blocks away, bathed in magenta and gold light. Chain wrapped around the broken glass doors. Shattered pieces glittered on the ground around it. She'd heard rumors about that entrance. The Dream Wardens locked it years ago. They said it led to tunnels that went deeper than any map showed. Places where Dreamland's oldest structures still stood. Alyce lowered the binoculars and smiled. She had her base. She had her first target. Tomorrow, she would break those chains and see what the wardens wanted to keep buried. The ancient truths were waiting, and she would find them.