She had been here before. She knew this place.
And yet, as always, she was afraid.
Surrounding her was a thick, palpable darkness, the looming canopy above perpetually blocking out any light that might pierce the shadows. She couldn't see her surroundings, couldn't see if she was alone or if some creature was stalking her beneath the veil of darkness. She never could, but she could always feel something. A primal energy, a furious surge of basic desire and hunger. Everything from the air to the shadows themselves seemed to carry this animalistic impulse, and it all seemed directed towards her. She was the prey.
She tried to take a step back, but fear gripped her form, rooting her feet to the floor. She could feel the shadows swirl around her, emanating hunger, lust, anger and envy. They closed in, crushing her in a vice-like grip. She couldn't move. She couldn't run.
Was she going to die?
Then, in an instant, the ground beneath her vanished. She fell into the abyss below, unable to scream, unable to make a sound. All around her, darkness reigned supreme. True darkness, reeking of hopelessness, of the inevitable end that all creatures tried to avoid. She wanted to close her eyes, but she no longer had any control over her body. She was a slave to the darkness, forced to play its game.
She stopped. All motion suddenly stopped. Nothing moved. Hovering in the emptiness, she could do nothing but stare, stare at the darkness. Then, something moved. A sliver of light, a faint white line. It swam in the shadows, utterly carefree in its movement. More lights joined it, flickering into existance within the empty void. They clustered together, forming...
...
That...
She recognized that...
It was...
The thought came to a sudden halt. And then she fell again, through the void. Only this time, she didn't stop. She fell, faster and faster, emotions coursing through her body. Hunger, lust, anger, envy. Regret.
At last, she screamed. At last, she could move, writhing, squirming, feebly attempting to halt her descent. But it was pointless. She had no power. She could stop nothing. She could only watch as everything came to an end...
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She gasped, reaching out for something, anything that could protect her from the shadows. She clutched... her bed sheets. She was... in her house. She looked around. It was dark, but this darkness was natural, merely a byproduct of Ire's lunar cycle. It held no animosity, no primal feelings. She sighed, resting her head against a pillow. That had been the sixth time this month. Six times, she had had the same dream. Each time, it had been the exact same. Regaining her composure, Soteria forced herself to think clearly. If this was the sixth time she had experienced the same dream, then it was likely that this was no dream.
No. This was most likely a vision.
The last time her powers had manifested was when she had been shown visions of her father's murder. Like these, those visions had been distorted, almost ethereal. She had thought them to be nothing more than dreams, and had payed little attention to them. It had cost her dearly, so very dearly.
A disturbing thought crossed her mind.
At the end of the vision, every single time, there was always a group of lights that swam around, forming a symbol. At first, she wasn't able to recognize it, taken aback by the sudden terror she felt within the vision. But now, having gotten almost accustomed to the nightmarish realm, she was able to make sense of everything. And the implications of this vision were not good. Not at all.
But there was no point stressing over it now. She would simply have to warn the king tomorrow and hope for the best.
"How powerless you are.."
With one last, somber whisper, the woman closed her eyes and returned to her slumber. She could only hope that the night held no more revelations for her.
» Xixas Averall - Forged Armaments
» Zahkir Fulstovka
» Logos - Archhive
» Riisa vel Siefreet
» Guldfaxe - He of the Golden Mane
» Uriah Engraham
» (Ch. 1) Threading Needles
» (Ch. 1) Iron Road
» Troupe de Cartes
» Lu Scarlet - Light Wanders
» Praeci
» Kayden Lhyeu
» (Ch. 1) Fleeting Webs of Wires