Dreamer's Nightmare is the fourth graphic novel of The Dragon Prince. It focuses on Callum and Ezran quelling the brewing storm in the quiet Katolian town of Noct.[1]
Plot[]
In the quiet town of Noct in the Human Kingdom of Katolis, a storm has been brewing. By the time young princes Callum and Ezran arrive, the community is in a state of panic. A mysterious force has been sweeping through town, putting any adult who encounters it into a deep sleep. Children recount what they saw — some describe a beast, others a dragon, some even mention an elf – but is there truly something sinister at work, or have their imaginations gotten the best of them?
While King Harrow, Aunt Amaya, and the rest of the adults attempt to solve the mystery, Callum and Ezran meet compelling forces of their own. While each prince has something to prove, they will need to work together if they want to get to the bottom of things. Can Callum and Ezran uncover the source of the chaos before all of Noct is lost to a nightmare?[2]
Summary[]
The royal party of Katolis makes camp during their travel to Noct as Amaya and Gren ask King Harrow why they did not just send castle representatives to visit the town. Harrow assures Amaya that their visit to Noct is merely a quick diplomatic meeting and its late mayor was a good friend of Queen Sarai. He also reveals he wants to make sure that Otti, the late mayor's son, is in good hands upon inheriting his father's position. Amaya asks if it is also necessary to bring Callum and Ezran with them before Harrow answers that the trip is a good opportunity for them to learn and bond as brothers. Callum, Ezran, and Bait eventually return to the camp, with an exasperated Callum telling Harrow that Ezran made him look for an imaginary treasure behind a waterfall. Ezran insists that it was the raccoons who fooled them before they continue their journey to Noct while the raccoons enjoy the meal they stole from the princes.
Half a day later, the royal party arrives at Noct and notices that its residents are wary about staying outside. Mayor Otti is surprised to find King Harrow in his town despite Amaya telling him that they confirmed their arrival a month ago. Otti replies that he sent a messenger crow telling them to not come and they should have received it two days ago. Otti demands the royal party to leave Noct and that its people are handling the problem carefully, but Harrow insists Otti to divulge what is going on since the Standing Battalion are the best soldiers in Katolis. Otti reluctantly accepts Harrow's help and decides to show them what has been plaguing Noct.
Otti leads the royal party to a building housing several adults who have been asleep for at least two days. Nearby, Callum, Ezran, and Bait walk by a group of children who are arguing about the appearance of the creature they saw. One of the healers tells Harrow that they found the adults asleep on the ground after something destroyed the west end of Noct. Callum and Ezran agree that something else is in play.
Later that night, Callum, Ezran, and Bait are eavesdropping on a conversation between Otti, Harrow, Amaya, and Gren in an inn. Otti reveals to the royal party that the citizens of Noct have been seeing odd storms coming and going since they expanded the quarry a couple of weeks ago. Some citizens believe that elven magic is responsible for such phenomena, though no elves have been sighted since the time of Otti's great-great-grandmother. Ezran then sees a rat named Dionis commenting about humans always making their own problems before blaming everyone and everything else but themselves. Ezran asks Dionis if he knows anything about the sleeping adults, only for Dionis to tell him to figure it out himself before scurrying off. Ezran accidentally bumps into Callum, causing both of them to stumble into the room. Harrow asks Amaya to help the princes find the rooms as Ezran asks about the monster. Otti adds that the children of the afflicted claimed to have seen something when their parents fell ill, but Otti dismissed them as imagination to help them explain what they cannot understand. Ezran tries to tell Callum about the rat he talked to, but Callum ignores him. Dionis tells Ezran to have better luck next time while watching from the rafters.
By morning, Ezran wakes up from a nightmare involving a massive creature before meeting Callum. Ezran gives his jelly tart to Bait as Callum says that the adults are heading to the west end of Noct to investigate the sleeping phenomena. Callum assures Ezran that there is no monster or magic involved since Sarai used to say that the best answer is the simplest one. Since Noct is not too far from the Border, Callum believes that volcanoes spew all kinds of gas into the air and that the builders hit some kind of gas pocket that puts the adults to sleep. However, Callum does not rule out an elf who went rogue and started to terrorize Noct. Ezran and Bait find Dionis and chase him to an abandoned library. Callum marvels at the books since they might have stories that can explain the sleeping phenomena. Callum starts researching the books while Ezran meets Dionis again. Ezran helps the in making sure the book next to him does not fall over, and Ezran finds that the book has an illustration of a slumbering dragon-like creature. Dionis allows Ezran to borrow the book before the latter gives it to Callum. Callum believes that what the book holds are merely fairy tales in cursive to teach children lessons and tells Ezran to put it away. Ezran returns the book to Dionis before asking if fairy tales are simply made-up stories. The rat reminds Ezran about the story of the piper who used an enchanted Evenerean flute to round up and herd all the rats infesting a village, and when the villagers refuse to pay, the piper leads all the rats back to eat every cheese in the mayor's house. Ezran ponders about Dionis's quote on fairy tales being based on some truth.
That evening, Harrow plans to head out to the eastern side of Noct to see if elves are behind the sleeping phenomena. Amaya suggests sending Callum and Ezran back home, but Harrow believes that everyone will be safer together until the situation prompts him to have Amaya's best soldiers escort his sons back to the castle. Callum then asks Harrow if he can join the royal party so he can learn how to be a prince. Harrow reluctantly agrees as long as Callum and Ezran stay close together. Callum promises to keep Ezran safe.
The next day, the royal party heads for the eastern side of Noct while Otti explains that the citizens have been using stones from the expanded quarry to make new roads and renovate old buildings, and things started well for the community until the sleeping phenomena started on the west end. Ezran helps Callum in riding his horse. Harrow talks to some citizens as Ezran hears a squeaking sound coming from the nearby windmill. Callum tells Ezran to ignore the squeaking so they can observe Harrow's diplomacy. The squeaking causes Bait to become nervous, but Ezran assures the Glow Toad that he will not be alone when he enters the windmill. Callum and Ezran follow Bait towards the windmill, but Bait starts to become terrified by something else. A large storm starts to brew over Noct as something encourages Ezran and Bait to head inside the Windmill. One of the windmill's sails falls on the door, separating Ezran and Bait from Callum.
Ezran and Bait are trapped inside the windmill as they meet a small bat-like creature named Nimei. Nimei says that it is best to stay inside the windmill so they can hide from a huge monster with teeth and claws. The storm starts to subside and Ezran agrees to keep Nimei with him until the danger passes.
Callum tries to use a rock and a tree branch to pry the fallen sail out when Ezran, Bait, and Nimei climb out from the windmill. The relieved Harrow hugs Callum and Ezran before deciding to send them back to the castle with Amaya's best soldiers. Ezran hears nearby children talking about the creature they saw when the storm passed. Callum, Ezran, Bait, and Nimei are riding back home when Nimei warns Ezran about approaching danger. A storm starts to brew above the group and Ezran notices the cloud assuming a form when he is knocked off his horse. Callum and Ezran then see the sleeping soldiers as the clouds dissipate, and Callum starts to agree with Ezran about seeing something in the clouds. They then see a female Banther cub approaching from behind and Callum tries to use a branch to scare her off. Ezran tells Callum that the Banther cub only wants to play and practice her skills. Callum and Ezran then move the sleeping soldiers off the road before settling on sneaking back to the library to see if they can find something to help Harrow.
Ezran and his group return to the library before reuniting with Dionis. Ezran tries to find something about the storm when the Banther cub accidentally causes some bookshelves to fall. Amaya and Gren enter the library before scolding Callum and Ezran about going against the king's order. However, the storm returns, prompting Amaya and Gren to investigate. The animals start to become agitated since they can sense the creature's presence. Callum and Ezran head out to see a massive creature in the storm, but the adults cannot see it. The creature uses its powers to destroy Noct and put the adults to sleep before vanishing again. Callum and Ezran help some trapped children before Ezran finds an injured deer-like creature named Kusa who appears from under some debris. Ezran bandages Kusa's injured leg as the children ask Callum if they are safe. The creature's attack emboldens Ezran to stand up and tells the children to find shelter. Callum praises Ezran for acting like a real leader before remembering what Otti said about the quarry and how the phenomena started shortly after its expansion. Callum agrees to accompanies Ezran to the quarry since they are uncertain on when the adults will wake up.
Callum, Ezran, Bait, and the animals arrive at the quarry to investigate. The animals start to sense something familiar around the quarry. Suddenly, the ground gives away, causing Ezran and Bait to fall down the hole. Callum and the animals soon follow and they discover a hidden and ancient elf temple decorated with a fresco of a familiar-looking creature. Callum soon realizes that the fairy tale book might hold the answer to the phenomena. However, the creature that attacked Noct arrives before it decides to return to the town. Ezran soon realizes that the animals are in a trance and they decide to return to the library to find the fairy tale book.
Ezran and his group soon retrieve the book from the library and find an illustration of the creature with a Moonshadow Elf, with Dionis telling the young prince to take care of himself. However, the illustration does not perfectly match the creature, which lacks antlers, wings, and an eye. Ezran decides to check on the other children and tells Callum to read the story. Callum does not want Ezran to go since he wants to make Harrow proud after his continuous failures. Ezran encourages Callum to help him by reading the story so they can figure out how to stop the creature. Callum relents and tells Ezran to be safe. The animals keep talking about the familiar sensation as the creature approaches them.
Callum reads the fairy tale about a young Dream Warden who defied the traditions of its kind by befriending a Moonshadow Elf child. The Dream Warden and the child would go on adventures together in the child's dreaming world. One day, the Dream Warden cannot find the child and it fearfully searches for its friend dream after dream, leaving nightmares in its wake. The Dream Warden eventually finds its friend, only to discover that the child has become an adult who have grown past dreaming about adventures. Knowing it has lost its only friend, the Dream Warden falls into despair and returns to its temple to fall into a deep sleep, vowing to never befriend another mortal.
Callum soon realizes that the Dream Warden was awakened by people digging into its temple, which disturbed its sleep and caused it to go on a rampage. Callum rushes out to tell Ezran what he learned, and Ezran decides to walk towards the Dream Warden since fighting it head-on is futile. The hysteric Callum rush to Ezran when the Dream Warden uses its breath to put the latter to sleep.
Ezran is inside his dream as he calms the Dream Warden down by talking to it. Ezran realizes that aspects of the Dream Warden separate when it was awakened, and it got scared when people started to tear into its temple. Ezran comforts the Dream Warden about losing a loved one by talking about how Callum grieved Sarai on the anniversary of her death. However, Ezran says that Callum is still his beloved brother no matter what, and he learned to never give up on a loved one since it all it takes is one person to help see through all sadness. The three animals are revealed to be the physical manifestations of three of the Dream Warden's aspects: Nimei for fear, the Banther cub for pride, and Kusa for belonging. Ezran says it is easy to lose one's self when others are not let in and convinces the Dream Warden to not be angry and alone forever. The three animals merge with the Dream Warden, allowing it to assume its original form. Ezran convinces the Dream Warden to befriend the children of Noct if it lets them into its life. The pacified Dream Warden vanishes, allowing everyone who was put to sleep to wake up again. Ezran happily reunites with Callum and Harrow before revealing the elf temple in the quarry. Harrow decides to have Viren investigate the temple as the adults start to believe that elves were responsible in putting them to sleep.
Not long after, Ezran receives an elf toy from one of the children and jokes about it being cursed. Callum believes that Sarai would be proud of Ezran, and Ezran replies that their mother would be proud of Callum as well. Callum asks Ezran for forgiveness for being a jerk, and Ezran believes that it will take more than an apology for them to truly reconcile. This gives Callum the idea to perform his first "Jerkface Dance" to entertain Ezran. The two brothers then reconcile with a hug as the royal party prepares to return to the castle. Callum starts drawing the Dream Warden in his sketchbook, with Bait saying that it is very dreamy. Bait's comment makes Ezran laugh, who promises to tell Callum about it some time later.
Trivia[]
- The novel reveals the origin of the moments mentioned in "Wonderstorm", when Ezran first tried to prove to Callum he could understand animals and the "Jerkface Dance".
- The story of the piper and the rats is a reference to the story of the "Pied Piper of Hamelin".
References[]
| Books | ||||||||||||
| Novels | Book One: Moon • Book Two: Sky • Book Three: Sun | |||||||||||
| Graphic Novels | Through the Moon • Bloodmoon Huntress • Puzzle House • Dreamer's Nightmare | |||||||||||
| Others | Callum's Spellbook • The Art of The Dragon Prince | |||||||||||