It was weird being alone with nothing to do. Sacha only woke up a handful of times and seemed to be able to speak very few sentences before falling back asleep. A few times Sacha's wings managed to smack me in the face before folding back to his side.
I fell asleep a few times but every time I heard a sound, my body jolted awake and my hands went straight for the hilt of my swords. But when I realized nothing could get in here, I relaxed slightly and went back to sleep.
It was nice to actually rest. The last time I got a good amount of sleep was years ago when my parents were still alive. After that between my entire perspective on life changing, more thugs seemed to want to take advantage of my aunt. They never got far though. I started to mess with traps or hid in the shadows and ambushed them.
Auntie seemed worried that my innocence seemed to disappear but at the same time, it was the only reason our family wasn't being disturbed. But because I started at such a young age, trapping and hiding in the shadows became second nature. Makes me wonder if that is the reason why I got gifted with shadow magic.
I woke up one more time to use the bathroom, but surprisingly Sacha didn't wake up. It was hard to really move from the bed without waking him up. But maybe he was used to the room and didn't feel like he'd be in danger if I moved from the bed.
When I went to wash my hands, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I looked less tired than normal but something didn't feel right. It felt like a fog was on my brain. Maybe that's the side effect of catching up on sleep... I wandered back to bed where Sacha was burrowed under my comforter. My body curled around the little nest Sacha made while I was in the bathroom.
Once more I drifted back to sleep. I was standing in a royal office. Everything was accented gold while almost everything was made of dark oak and satin material. A man, who looked about my age, was sitting in the black leather chair by the fireplace. Looking at him was weird because it was like you could see him clearly but at the same time if you tried to focus on distinct features, his face seemed fuzzy like a bad picture.
He wore a plain white half-button-up shirt with black slacks and black boots. An attire for royal guards or military status of some sort. His black hair was slick back. He looked like he could be my size but it wasn't obvious to tell with him sitting. His, what I could tell, midnight purple eyes showed so much anxiety and confusion while he studied the flames.
"Hello?" I cautiously walked up to him, trying not to startle him as I approached the chair.
The man hesitantly looked at me. "Who are you?" He sounded panicked as his massive hands gripped the armrests.
I was slightly appalled with how a dream could have this type of setup and a confused man sitting in front of a fireplace. "Um, well, my name is Drex Foster. Who are you?" I felt dumb feeding into this dream but it was only a dream. What harm could happen?
He looked back at the fireplace like my question was a trick. His head shook in disbelief. "I- I don't know..." His eyes got glossy as he rubbed his face. Pain filled his eyes like a void.
That answer had goosebumps crawling up my skin for some odd reason. This man was slightly unhinged as his hands shook while gripping his chair. The more I looked at him, the more I wondered if he was the former emperor that killed himself. "Are you Emperor Osiris?" I asked, hoping I wasn't looking at a ghost.
The man shook his head as he started hyperventilating. "No. No. No. No!" He started to panic as he shot up from the chair, pacing around the room as he gripped his hair.
My fight response was triggered. Even though this was a dream; if this was a weird ghost dream, I didn't want there to be a way for this to affect my physical body. "Hey, calm down. Everything is okay." I tried to sound soothing as I held my hands up in surrender.
He kept pacing, eyes glossed like he was about to have a mental breakdown. "I don't remember. I don't remember who I am!" Sobs escaped his throat as he kept panicking.
"Hey, that's okay. You don't need to remember. We can figure out a new name for you." I was praying that what I was saying would ease his unexplained panic. My anxiety was raging in my chest, not helping my fight response.
Thankfully, the man's pacing slowed as his horrified expression shifted to what looked like hope. "I don't have to remember?" He sounded like a frightened child that needed the comfort of a parent which made me feel a little bad for the guy. The lost expression in his eyes was something I could empathize with.
"Yeah. Of course, yeah we can figure out a new name for you." I started as I walked towards him carefully. But then it hit me, this looked like the same spirit I saw when I claimed the twin swords. But the feeling I was getting now and then from the spirit was 2 different feelings. The first time I saw this guy, I felt power and strength. Now it was a scared little boy.
I couldn't switch up my demeanor, he was starting to calm down as he stepped towards me little by little. "What will I be called?" he asked in a small tone as he wiped his eyes.
I paused for a second, refusing to take my eyes off the man. "Emris?" I suggested, hoping he'd like it.
He paused and thought about it, then smiled. "Emris."
I sighed in relief and let my arms drop to my sides. "Okay, Emris. Where are we?" Maybe knowing where this guy thought we were could help me figure out who the spirit actually was.
Emris paused and looked around like I was now the crazy one. "We're in the Emperor's office. My father's office."
Confusion set in a little too hard. The emperor's living children aren't insane nor have gifts to dream walk... Could this be the aged soul of the general's dead child? Could that be why he doesn't know who he is? Or could it be the soul of Emperor Dorias? It would explain the odd behavior. "Oh okay. I didn't know this is what it looks like..." I tried to sound like a dumb servant in hopes it could get me information. "What's your dad's name?"
Emris looked at me confused and paused until a chill air crawled up my neck and everything went dark. Emris made a whimpered sound before he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the bookshelf. He flipped a book which caused it to reveal a secret door then without a word, pushed me through. I started to fall into the abyss of darkness until I crashed into solid ground but I was still surrounded in darkness.
An ache was surrounding where Emris had touched my arm like the touch of death was infecting my skin. I got to my feet slowly and looked around in the abyss, cautious of what could pop out. The chill started nipping at my skin again as something felt off, but I didn't know what.
Then I heard it, something made a sick clicking screech noise of something unholy. It was coming from all around me, there was no way to pinpoint it. I kept spinning in circles as I tried to command my shadows but they weren't coming to me. What the hell is going on in this dream?
Then I saw its eyes. They were hollow and twisted as its body blended into the shadows like it was a part of them. Its teeth were just as black with them pointed like razors. I kept trying to call my shadows but to no avail.
Fear started to try and take over as I locked eyes with the thing in front of me like that was going to help me. And I didn't have any weapons on me. I was completely at this thing's mercy.
I thought I had time to run, but as soon as my legs started to move, I felt a sharp stab in my chest. My head dropped to see black talons in my chest, wrapped around my heart. I coughed, feeling blood invade my lungs with a small amount coming up my throat. The iron was consuming my taste and smell as I coughed up my blood, feeling my body dying.
Soulless... It now hit me how I was feeling my life source drain from me and why this thing was the image of evil and hollowness. Shit... Can they invade dreams? Am I about to die in a damn dream?
And without warning, the Soulless twisted its talons around my heart, ending my life in a second. I woke up gasping and screaming while I gripped my chest like that would stop the Soulless from ending my life.
I felt a strong hand grip my shoulder like that would help me snap into reality. My screams kept coming out like it was my new way of breathing. I was still ridden with anxiety and fear while trying to call my shadows who were now whipping around the room uncontrollably.
"Drexel!" Alden's screaming plea suddenly snapped my mind into a weird state of control and it was like that's what got me to stop screaming. My gaze drifted to his mortified expression.
My heart was still pounding in my ears but my shadows seemed to subside. Sacha was alarmed and crawled in my lap, sniffing in my direction like he was trying to find me. Sweat dripped down my body as I trembled. "Just a dream," I whispered and quickly looked around the room then back at Alden.
Alden had a small gash on his shoulder, most likely where my shadows got him when I lost control. "Yes. Just a dream." His hand dropped from my shoulder when Sacha managed to crawl his way up my shoulder and started to nip at his hand, wincing at how the dragon's small teeth felt.
"Stop making Drex scared, you monster." He thought Alden's hand was the cause of my distress which oddly comforted me. Sacha was willing to protect me in his weak state of being a day old.
I scooped Sacha in my arms, comforting him to let him know I was okay. My mind was still jumbled from the dream. I couldn't quite tell him yet. "Did I hurt you?" I sounded weak and shaky as I asked the question.
Alden looked at his bleeding shoulder and waved it off. "Don't worry about it. You didn't have control." His voice was so nonchalant, it was nerve-racking.
My gaze dropped to Sacha who didn't have a single scratch on him thank the Fates. I don't know what I'd do if I accidentally hurt him because of a stupid dream.
Sacha wiggled his nose at me like he was trying to identify me but didn't wiggle out of my grasp. If anything, he made himself comfortable in my arms and relaxed back into sleep since I wasn't in as much distress.
Alden walked back to his bed and pulled out a small piece of cloth from his pocket like that's what he had it there for. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, placing the cloth on the wound.
I shook my head without thinking. "Not right now." That was probably a good response, with how uneasy I felt already. And Sacha was asleep and not worried about me. "Later in the day tomorrow I will."
The wind user nodded in understanding and got back under his comforter. "Try and get back to sleep." He said before rolling over on his side where the wound was.
I got under my own covers, Sacha still sleeping in my arms. Once I laid flat on my back, my eyes began to get heavy again and I was praying that I wouldn't dream. Please just let me have peace in my darkness of dreamless thoughts. And surprisingly, I drifted back to sleep in my peaceful darkness.