Hey everyone. I'm sorry for taking so long to update. My computer crashed TWICE(!) since I last updated, so I had to rewrite this chapter three times and shorten is quite a lot in order to get it up sooner. It's not as good as the first draft, of course, but I hope it will do. Tell me what you think!

The steel gray waves pounded relentlessly against the slick rocks at Matt's feet. A strong wind ruffled his torn clothes and short hair, but he felt neither its cold nor heat. Piercing blue eyes gazed longingly at the opposite shore where a dark skinned boy and a girl with long black hair sat. How he longed to be with them, talking with such ease and walking freely. But he knew he couldn't. He was trapped.

He looked down at the bank below and saw a little straw boat, bobbing up and down in the waves. Then he noticed the two boys, perfectly identical in every way, climbing up the steep trail. Once they noticed him, the closer of the two called out his name and raised a hand in greeting.

Matt did not go forward to meet them or call out in return. He stood where he was, legs aching, until they reached him, both out of breath.

"Sapling. Flint." He said, nodding to each one with the correct name. Then, without a further word, he plopped down and sat cross legged on the ground. His legs were no longer able to hold him up. The twins fallowed suit and after a moment Sapling asked, "What happened Matt? We missed you at the temple last week."

"Last week?" Matt frowned. Had he really been asleep for that long?

Flint nodded. "We saw a ton of blood just outside the forest. Were you attacked?"

"Yes." Matt said distantly. "Somehow the old ones found out about us meeting and—intercepted me."

Sapling stared at him, mouth slightly open, and Flint just shook his head. "And you're still alive?" He asked in amazement.

"Well, I'm not much use to them dead at the moment, am I? But I'm sure they won't wait too long; Chaos seemed murderous when I saw him, more then usual at least."

"I am so sorry." Sapling whispered slowly. "If we had been just five minutes—"

"Forget about it." Matt interrupted, not wanting the twins to blame themselves. "What happened happened. There's nothing we can do about it now, anyway."

"Of course there's something!" Said Sapling, standing up as if he were going to go get Matt right at that very moment. "Come on! Tell us what we can do."

But Matt just shook his head, a grim look on his face. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Flint gaped at him, shocked by his response. "What do you mean 'Nothing'? Matt, we're not just going to leave you-

"That's exactly what you're going to do." Matt said harshly. "Under no circumstances are you to come after me. It's exactly what they want, to get all five of us. I'm just the bait."

"And I'm sure they literally have you strung up on a hook." Sapling snapped. The sky, which was always grey in the dream world, turned an even darker shade as both the twins glared at Matt. The blue eyed boy didn't expect them to understand, but he hoped they would listen. Four against the Old Ones had much better odds then two, or none. But, of course, they didn't agree at all.

"Listen, I'll find my own way out of this. That's what I'm good at." He smiled suddenly as he remembered why he chose his symbol: the fish. "But we can't afford to get you two caught. Just—stay safe. Where are you now, anyway?"

"The City of Canals." Flint said, a blank look on his face. "We assumed that was where head quarters were. Everyone's fine, but their moral took a nose dive when you didn't return with us."

Matt bit his bottom lip as he thought hard. How was he going to fix this one?

"Okay," He said slowly, as if still trying to make up his mind. "I want you to go find Lismack, he's the captain of the army, I'm sure you've already met him." The twins nodded, remembering the young, cunning man with early graying black hair and dark eyes they had met the day they arrived. "Go find him," Matt continued, "and tell him I've talked to you and that I'm fine. If he asks questions, answer them honestly, but he probably won't so there's no need to share the entire story. He will come up with what we will tell the people."

"Wait, we're not going to tell them the truth?" Sapling frowned.

"No. Not the whole truth, at any rate. You think their moral's low now, try telling them their leader is being held captive and tortured by the Old Ones." He paused for a moment, wishing he had not said that. The twins' faces looked worried and scared, and Matt was afraid they were going to start insisting on coming after him again. "And, please, promise me you won't come after me." He pleaded.

The twins hesitated, but when Matt raised one of his eyebrows they knew there would be no arguing this time.

After they swore to stay with the army and away from immediate danger, Matt said "Okay, now, go find Lismack. And perhaps, if we are lucky, we will talk here again. But now is the time for you two to go."

"Right then." Flint pushed himself off the ground and turned to his brother. "Slap me."

"What?!" Sapling stared at him, taken aback.

"Slap me so I will wake up and then I can wake you up." He sounded exasperated, as if that were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh, right, okay." And Sapling smacked his brother hard across the cheek with the back of his hand. The moment he made contact with Flint's skin, the boy disappeared, leaving only Matt and Sapling on the gray beach.

"Well, that felt good." Sapling said absentmindedly as Matt stood up slowly, legs screaming for him to sit back down. Sapling lowered his hand and stared hard at Matt. "You will be okay, won't you?"

Matt placed his hand on Sapling's shoulder as a response and the corners of Sapling's mouth twitched. "I guess that's my alarm call, then."

Matt nodded. "Stay safe." Were his last words before Sapling, too, disappeared to join Flint.

Suddenly and all too soon, Matt found himself alone again on the beach. The straw boat was no longer tied to a rock on the shore, but off in the distance as the shadowed figures of the twins rowed off towards the others.

That was when Matt noticed the water. It was churning, as if caught in the middle of a hurricane. The water had receded a fair amount of feet from where it should have been, leaving behind pieces of coral and sea life. Nearby, a fish was stuck on the sand, flopping and twisting desperately to get free, but the sand held it captive, and as slippery as it was it could not escape into the water. A shiver of unease ran down Matt's spine at the sight of it, but he couldn't explain why.

Then suddenly he felt a shadow cross over his face and he looked up to see a wall of gray ocean water rising up to block away the sun. Matt instinctively raised a hand to block his face as the wave can crashing down, landing right on top of him and crashing him into the ground.

Matt woke suddenly, coughing and spitting up water that was very real. It soaked through his ripped shirt and clung to his body, making the cold even more unbearable. After wiping the stream away from his eyes, he glared up at the figure towering over him. He recognized the outline of the shape-shifter holding a now empty bucket and the fly-guards behind him.

The Shape-shifter laughed coldly as Matt choked on the water and then signaled for the guards to grab hold of the boy. He tried to fight, but he was still too weak and his legs continued to resist holding him up. The Changer laughed again as Matt nearly collapsed. "Stop playing around, boy. Now's when the real fun begins."

TBC

Dun Dun Dun!! Yes, now the fun begins! The next chapter will be very dark and emo (and this time I'll get it up within the same year, I promise.)

Also, I wasn't really sure how Anthony Horowitz's dream world worked, his always seems a lot more spontaneous and really, really weird. But it will have a pretty big role in the story, so my dream world will just have to do, I guess.

So, it would be oh so kind of you to leave me a review on your way out! Just click the little button in the middle of the screen, I promise it won't bite!

Till next time…