Free The Sandman and the War of Dreams by William Joyce

a light rain made of drops of pure sorrow. That poor girl, he thought. As alone and lost as Emily Jane . . . and now perhaps lost forever.
    Dense, dark clouds began to form spontaneously and billow toward him. They were gigantic and stormlike, but they held no wind or thunder. Once Sandman was fully encircled by the storm, he heard a familiar voice bloom around him. It came from the clouds.
    “I can stand anyone’s tears but yours.” It was Emily Jane Pitchiner, now the Queen Mother of Nature! “Besides, I control the rain here. Hold on, I’ll send you to the girl.”
    She will take me to the girl, Mansnoozie thought as relief flooded to even the tiniest grain of sand in his being. Katherine must be alive!
    He looked up into the cloud nearest to him as it began swirling ever more tightly, narrowing into a sort of tunnel. For the briefest moment, he saw Emily Jane standing at the opening. Her majestic robes whirled around her, and it seemed as though they were what powered the clouds. He felt a deep satisfaction at seeing her at last. She had grown up without his realizing it. Even more gratifying was knowing that his time with her had left some echo of kindness in her soul.
    He nodded gravely to her, and she returned the nod. Old friends sometimes need no words to understand each other. Then her winds guided him swiftly up and away, toward Katherine.

C HAPTER T WENTY -T HREE

    A Dream That Becomes Real
    T HE COMBINED POWER OF the three relics with the Dreamsand was extraordinary. Their collective energy was nearly nuclear, but smooth and efficient rather than destructive. A quadrillion molecules had been released, all with the intent of instantaneously transporting many of the vast resources of Santoff Claussen to a spot nearly halfway around the planet without damage or upset. Trees from the enchanted forest; books from Ombric’s library; the bear; North’s elves; dozens of forest creatures of every species, including a small herd of the mightyreindeer; Mr. Qwerty; the robot djinni; Guardians and their helpers—all found themselves in a wondrous frozen landscape.
    But there was even more!
    From the Lunar Lamadary came dozens of Yetis, the clock that could enable time travel, the magnificent flying tower—accompanied by a note from the Lamas:
    May come in handy. Or perhaps useful. Or perhaps necessary. Or even essential. Or not. But perhaps.
    Everything arrived and landed at its final destination according to a precise design that had been formulated in North’s imagination. North was thunderstruck. He had been working on plans for this “New City to the North,” as he called it, ever since Katherine first sent him his dream of the future. But he’d done so alone, during momentsof quiet. He’d shown his fellow Guardians a paper model of the city, but that had been a simplistic thing, barely more than a childlike sketch. This . . . this was as if he’d witnessed part of his imagination unfold into reality.
    Another reality was that where they had landed was cold. Very cold. They huddled together in a large group, looking around at the icy landscape that surrounded them. They were on a snow-covered peak—miles and miles of snow and glaciers spread before them in every direction. The towering cedar and pine trees from the enchanted forest that had uprooted themselves only a short time ago in Santoff Claussen had been magically replanted around the base of the peak, forming a wall around the city-to-be.
    Ombric stroked his beard, cleared his throat, and looked at North inquisitively. His former apprenticehad become a wizard of rather astounding accomplishments. And though the old wizard might never admit it aloud, in some ways, North was now more than Ombric’s equal.
    “Nicely done, my boy,” he said. Now, where exactly are we?
    North could tell that his old teacher was much impressed. In the past he’d have gloated and said something to vex the old man, but he knew this wasn’t the time for that. They