A full moon hung in the sky like a bright silver penny. Sparse clouds
drifted in the wind, which blew on this night. Its beams shone down,
illuminating the keep below with a pale ghostly light. On the northernmost
corner tower, a set of double doors stood open to accept the breeze. The
white gauze curtains floated and fell as the young woman asleep in the room
likewise tossed and turned.
She was walking through a forest, the likes of which she had never seen before. Huge trees seemed to touch the very sky with their shining golden leaves. Above all a faint light permeated all as a sense of peace came over her. She came to a hill and the sight before her made her gasp. A city of trees and shining light stood before her in all its glory. She longed to go down to it, but before she could do so, the wind started to rise. Darkening clouds rolled in from the east, bringing with them ice cold raindrops and striking lightening.
As she watched with a feeling of growing apprehension the view shifted and blurred into a stony keep deep in a valley. She could see hoards of monsters pouring past the inner wall. Their stench was nauseating. It was whom they were fighting that caught her eye. Men, she could see, fighting with their all against the foul hoard but steadily falling back. Next to a wall she could see one lone soldier fighting fiercely, moving quicker then the eye could see. Here and there he struck, wasting no movement. Shouting in some foreign language drew his attention, and he looked up, acknowledging the speaker who gestured him back into the fort. Before he could move, she saw him dealt a blow, which stunned him. Her soul cried out as the fighter was cruelly struck down from behind.
"NO!!"
She started violently awake, her heart hammering as if she had just been fighting herself. Her breath rasped from her in deep gasps. Raising herself to a sitting position, she noticed her hands were trembling. In fact, her whole body shook like a leaf in the wind. That's enough of that, she thought. She rose from her bed and paced over to small sideboard. Looking over the bottles present she selected a small slightly glowing bottle and downed the contents with a grimace. Heading over to a plush divan she struggled to calm her racing heart. As the calming potion took effect, her tremors eased and the residual fear from the nightmare began to leave her.
Dark hair shimmered in the light as she brushed it out of the way. The iridescent color shone black in the night, but in the full light of day it shined as colorful iridescent blue as a peacock. The color proclaimed one thing easily understood by all.
Mage, it whispered to all, setting her slightly apart from most of humanity. For the young woman sitting there shaking, Alanya Mystewalker was one of the rare population born with a mage gift. These rarities popped up only rarely in each generation, and were both feared and respected for their abilities. As such, while the gift was welcomed, most families were loath to have a child in their midst who could light a fire with a glance or teleport the family cow onto the roof of the house. Over the ages, mage schools developed as those of like-minded philosophies gathered to discuss their powers and what they saw as the proper use. Governments grew to sanction various schools, condemn others, and in general to employ the mages to enforce those condemnations. There indeed was where Alanya came in, for she worked tracking down renegade mages and neutralizing their threat however possible.
From the site of her shaking from the aftereffects of her dream, one would not guess that she was one of the most successful at bringing in the most dangerous mage criminals that roamed the land. She was no great Amazon sized woman, nor terribly small and petite. She was strong from her many travels, but not overly so. Her real power lay in her brilliant mind and her powers. Alanya was one of the more successful mages of her time due to her ability to tap power from the very ley lines of the earth. Mage born children were possibly 1% of the population, and the ability to safely use the ley lines was perhaps 1% of that.
A long sigh left her lips as she massaged her forehead. These dreams are getting worse, she thought. Despite the calming potion her emotions were still in upheaval. She had been having these dreams almost nightly for the past two weeks, and it was beginning to tell on her. Her few friends noticed that she was looking drawn and worn, to which she gently shunted aside their concern, making noises that she had perhaps been working to hard and that's all, thank you though. Sometimes it was simply glimpses of the forest, but more often it was the horrible scene at the keep. That was one, which woke her screaming out more often then not. After the second time of waking her neighbors she placed a silent spell on her apartments, to not disturb anyone else's sleep and hopefully keep this dreaming to herself. Although, Alanya was beginning to realize that it might be a good idea to get an opinion on if these dreams were simply the result of overwork or if they portended something more significant.
Her thoughts dwelled on the fighter she saw in her dream. His fine features and hair of gold made her heart ache with feelings she typically repressed and ignored. Her training and career were demanding to the point that she had never yet felt comfortable allowing anyone close except for a rare few casual alliances that were quickly dissolved in the light of day. Each time in the dream she saw him fall she knew with all her being that it was wrong, but was helpless to change the scene. Something would have to be done, for she could not continue on in this matter every night. In the morning, she decided that she would consult the head of her order and see if she had any words of advice.
She rose from the divan, glad to have at least a plan of action. A soft knock on the door made her pause, however, from heading back to bed. Alanya wondered who could be knocking this late at night. Her footfalls made only a whisper of sound as she paced to the door, opening it onto the hall.
"Alanya? Are you all right? I can feel your disquiet all the way into my dreams." A young man said softly, his robe wrapped closed against the cool of the night.
Alanya smiled at her visitor. "Hello Korry, come in." she replied as she kissed her visitor on the cheek and ushered him in. Korry was her year mate in mage studies, and one of her closest friends. His mage talent was very modest, and as such he resided at the school, managing the vast library of mage books and lore. Often he had Alanya tracking down rare books for him on her travels, a task she did with love for her friend. Korry came in and sat down on a couch, his robe pooling around his feet as he sat down. His magically silvered hair belied his youthful countenance, often fooling people into thinking he was older then his 29 years. Alanya sat down as well, leaning on the other arm to sit across from her friend. "It's a little late for casual visits, don't you think?"
Korry studied her for a moment before looking away. "I'm worried about you Alanya, you're not sleeping, when you are up and about the keep you move one distracted. You brush aside everyone's concerns well enough that they don't ask, but they don't know you like I do." He moved forward and took her hand in his, massaging away some of the tension he felt there. "I could feel your nightmare tonight, I knew you were up."
Alanya couldn't hold his earnest gaze and tell him nothing was wrong, so she simply looked down. She sighed, not knowing what to tell him. "I, I don't know Korry. I'm not really sure what's the matter." The figure of the lone fighter flashed in her mind and she closed her eyes, moisture shining there as her eyes teared up. Korry took her in his arms, holding her, as she fought off tears not very successfully. Alanya simply lay there, letting the soothing rhythm of her friend's heartbeat calm her enough so she could lie out her dreams before him.
"It started several weeks ago, actually. I began having dreams where I was walking through the most lovely forest I've ever seen. Trees larger then any on this world. Their leaves shone gold on the light, and glowed silver at night. The whole city had a luminescent glow," she mused.
"It sounds very peaceful," Korry noted. "I gather they didn't stay that way." Alanya shivered.
"No," she whispered. She hid her face back on her friend's shoulder and he stroked her hair for a moment, knowing Alanya would continue when she was ready. "Soon, a dark shadow would rise in the east, and it brought with it terrifying feelings in my heart. I don't know what it means but something is very wrong. It's changed again. I see the forest and the shadow, but now, there is something different. I see a keep under siege from an army that greatly outnumbers it. The besieging army of monsters has broken through the outer wall, and the army begins to pull back to the inner wall. Then I see...I see him, and I can't stop him from falling," she said brokenly. Her friend sat quiet, his arms still tight around her. Alanya felt a little better for telling the dreams, but still was no closer to figuring them out.
"Is there anything else you recall from the dreams?" he asked softly.
"No," she replied as she shook her head. "This may be silly but, the fighter I see struck down..." she paused and sighed before continuing, "" he makes my heart want to sing for the sight of him." She could feel her face grow red and cursed herself for it.
To his credit she did not even feel Korry crack a smile. He often was concerned about her solitary ways, to which she always told him he fretted too much over her and needed to pay more attention to the state of his own affairs. She could feel him thinking over what to say and simply waited, lying exhausted in his hold.
"My heart-sister, these have the sound of premonitions."
Alanya sat up and leaned back against the back of the couch, still close to her friend. "But that doesn't make sense, brother! I've never had premonition dreams before. Ever! And you'd think with some of the demonic people I've hunted down and the scars I've gained doing it, you'd think if I had foresight it would warn me to get the hell out of the way sometimes!" She emphasized this last with an impatient whack on the back of the couch, wincing as she hit harder then intended. Her friend smiled and took the hand.
"Premonitions don't always come when we want them, sweet." He looked off in the distanceand tapped his fingers in thought, and then looked back at her. "Do you recognize the keep? Or the forest? What about either of the armies?"
She shook her head negatively, black shimmering hair falling into her eyes. "No! That's what I can't understand. There is not one device I recognize, neither the keep nor the forest. I do not recognize the trees in the forest and I've traveled the length and breath of the land, you know this."
He made a small sound of affirmation. "True.." he mused. Silence reigned for a heartbeat before he spoke again. "This doomed fighter you see...tell me of him."
Alanya's heart lurched. "He stands tall, nigh on six foot unless I miss my guess. His long hair is pulled back in braids, and it shines like gold even in the torchlight." She whispered. "I can tell from the armor he wears he is someone important, the leader of his forces, perhaps. And the armor is very elegant, like none I have ever seen." Something else occurred to her. "He is not human," she said slowly. "He seems to emanate a light around him, and he has strangely pointed ears."
"Hmmmm." Was her friend's only response.
"I don't know where this person is, but I have to find him, I have to!" she said, jumping up to pace to and fro as more feelings of urgency invaded her. Each night that went by, the feelings grew. It was that as much as the returning scene of the warrior's death that woke her every night. She could no longer sit idle and let the dreams continue, she wanted to find the reason behind them. "Aside from the fact that I want a decent night's sleep, there is something driving me to find this warrior. I will have no rest until I walk this path." She said with exasperation.
Korry chuckled. "Now that's my year mate," he said with a grin. It faded when he saw her begin to light all the candles in her room. "Alanya, what are you doing? You cannot mean to begin now. It's the middle of the night!" He protested.
"I have to," she replied quietly. "I can't just sit back and take a leisurely approach to this. I think there is more at stake then one person's life."
"You go back to bed and at least try to sleep the rest of the night, and preferably into the late morning," he retorted. "Let me search what I can find in the library texts. A little sleep missing will not hurt me. If there is a task coming that needs only you to handle it you best be rested and prepared."
She shook her head negatively, her long hair swaying with the motion. "Sorry Korry," she replied. I'd like to have the luxury, but I really should get started. This dream portends to me, I can't let you do the work." She pulled a couple books off of a shelf and placed them on a much- battered writing desk. Looking back over her shoulder she didn't see him stand up with purpose in his eyes.
Korry grasped Alanya's shoulder with one hand. When she turned to look at him with question in her eyes, he quickly placed the other hand on her temple and whispered a word. Alanya's eyes rolled up in her head and she sagged limply down, struck by her friend's sleeping spell. He shook his head and murmured to himself. "You always let me get by with that. How many times have I told you to keep your personal shields up even in a heavily shielded place like this. " He took a moment as he held her to scan the images of her dreams, a simple task since they were sitting right on the front of her mind, with little or no shielding surrounding the most recent one.
Deftly, he caught his friend and hefted her up, carrying her to her bed. He took a moment to study her visage as he laid her on the bed and pulled up a light blanket to her shoulders. "I'm not happy with the stress I see in your face even as you're asleep my friend. You rest, I'll search out knowledge of this strange dream world you've encountered." Korry leaned down to kiss her forehead, smiling as he saw she didn't even stir. No sound was heard as he left but he sliding of cloth over the floor and the click of the door as he left to research her premonitions.
She was walking through a forest, the likes of which she had never seen before. Huge trees seemed to touch the very sky with their shining golden leaves. Above all a faint light permeated all as a sense of peace came over her. She came to a hill and the sight before her made her gasp. A city of trees and shining light stood before her in all its glory. She longed to go down to it, but before she could do so, the wind started to rise. Darkening clouds rolled in from the east, bringing with them ice cold raindrops and striking lightening.
As she watched with a feeling of growing apprehension the view shifted and blurred into a stony keep deep in a valley. She could see hoards of monsters pouring past the inner wall. Their stench was nauseating. It was whom they were fighting that caught her eye. Men, she could see, fighting with their all against the foul hoard but steadily falling back. Next to a wall she could see one lone soldier fighting fiercely, moving quicker then the eye could see. Here and there he struck, wasting no movement. Shouting in some foreign language drew his attention, and he looked up, acknowledging the speaker who gestured him back into the fort. Before he could move, she saw him dealt a blow, which stunned him. Her soul cried out as the fighter was cruelly struck down from behind.
"NO!!"
She started violently awake, her heart hammering as if she had just been fighting herself. Her breath rasped from her in deep gasps. Raising herself to a sitting position, she noticed her hands were trembling. In fact, her whole body shook like a leaf in the wind. That's enough of that, she thought. She rose from her bed and paced over to small sideboard. Looking over the bottles present she selected a small slightly glowing bottle and downed the contents with a grimace. Heading over to a plush divan she struggled to calm her racing heart. As the calming potion took effect, her tremors eased and the residual fear from the nightmare began to leave her.
Dark hair shimmered in the light as she brushed it out of the way. The iridescent color shone black in the night, but in the full light of day it shined as colorful iridescent blue as a peacock. The color proclaimed one thing easily understood by all.
Mage, it whispered to all, setting her slightly apart from most of humanity. For the young woman sitting there shaking, Alanya Mystewalker was one of the rare population born with a mage gift. These rarities popped up only rarely in each generation, and were both feared and respected for their abilities. As such, while the gift was welcomed, most families were loath to have a child in their midst who could light a fire with a glance or teleport the family cow onto the roof of the house. Over the ages, mage schools developed as those of like-minded philosophies gathered to discuss their powers and what they saw as the proper use. Governments grew to sanction various schools, condemn others, and in general to employ the mages to enforce those condemnations. There indeed was where Alanya came in, for she worked tracking down renegade mages and neutralizing their threat however possible.
From the site of her shaking from the aftereffects of her dream, one would not guess that she was one of the most successful at bringing in the most dangerous mage criminals that roamed the land. She was no great Amazon sized woman, nor terribly small and petite. She was strong from her many travels, but not overly so. Her real power lay in her brilliant mind and her powers. Alanya was one of the more successful mages of her time due to her ability to tap power from the very ley lines of the earth. Mage born children were possibly 1% of the population, and the ability to safely use the ley lines was perhaps 1% of that.
A long sigh left her lips as she massaged her forehead. These dreams are getting worse, she thought. Despite the calming potion her emotions were still in upheaval. She had been having these dreams almost nightly for the past two weeks, and it was beginning to tell on her. Her few friends noticed that she was looking drawn and worn, to which she gently shunted aside their concern, making noises that she had perhaps been working to hard and that's all, thank you though. Sometimes it was simply glimpses of the forest, but more often it was the horrible scene at the keep. That was one, which woke her screaming out more often then not. After the second time of waking her neighbors she placed a silent spell on her apartments, to not disturb anyone else's sleep and hopefully keep this dreaming to herself. Although, Alanya was beginning to realize that it might be a good idea to get an opinion on if these dreams were simply the result of overwork or if they portended something more significant.
Her thoughts dwelled on the fighter she saw in her dream. His fine features and hair of gold made her heart ache with feelings she typically repressed and ignored. Her training and career were demanding to the point that she had never yet felt comfortable allowing anyone close except for a rare few casual alliances that were quickly dissolved in the light of day. Each time in the dream she saw him fall she knew with all her being that it was wrong, but was helpless to change the scene. Something would have to be done, for she could not continue on in this matter every night. In the morning, she decided that she would consult the head of her order and see if she had any words of advice.
She rose from the divan, glad to have at least a plan of action. A soft knock on the door made her pause, however, from heading back to bed. Alanya wondered who could be knocking this late at night. Her footfalls made only a whisper of sound as she paced to the door, opening it onto the hall.
"Alanya? Are you all right? I can feel your disquiet all the way into my dreams." A young man said softly, his robe wrapped closed against the cool of the night.
Alanya smiled at her visitor. "Hello Korry, come in." she replied as she kissed her visitor on the cheek and ushered him in. Korry was her year mate in mage studies, and one of her closest friends. His mage talent was very modest, and as such he resided at the school, managing the vast library of mage books and lore. Often he had Alanya tracking down rare books for him on her travels, a task she did with love for her friend. Korry came in and sat down on a couch, his robe pooling around his feet as he sat down. His magically silvered hair belied his youthful countenance, often fooling people into thinking he was older then his 29 years. Alanya sat down as well, leaning on the other arm to sit across from her friend. "It's a little late for casual visits, don't you think?"
Korry studied her for a moment before looking away. "I'm worried about you Alanya, you're not sleeping, when you are up and about the keep you move one distracted. You brush aside everyone's concerns well enough that they don't ask, but they don't know you like I do." He moved forward and took her hand in his, massaging away some of the tension he felt there. "I could feel your nightmare tonight, I knew you were up."
Alanya couldn't hold his earnest gaze and tell him nothing was wrong, so she simply looked down. She sighed, not knowing what to tell him. "I, I don't know Korry. I'm not really sure what's the matter." The figure of the lone fighter flashed in her mind and she closed her eyes, moisture shining there as her eyes teared up. Korry took her in his arms, holding her, as she fought off tears not very successfully. Alanya simply lay there, letting the soothing rhythm of her friend's heartbeat calm her enough so she could lie out her dreams before him.
"It started several weeks ago, actually. I began having dreams where I was walking through the most lovely forest I've ever seen. Trees larger then any on this world. Their leaves shone gold on the light, and glowed silver at night. The whole city had a luminescent glow," she mused.
"It sounds very peaceful," Korry noted. "I gather they didn't stay that way." Alanya shivered.
"No," she whispered. She hid her face back on her friend's shoulder and he stroked her hair for a moment, knowing Alanya would continue when she was ready. "Soon, a dark shadow would rise in the east, and it brought with it terrifying feelings in my heart. I don't know what it means but something is very wrong. It's changed again. I see the forest and the shadow, but now, there is something different. I see a keep under siege from an army that greatly outnumbers it. The besieging army of monsters has broken through the outer wall, and the army begins to pull back to the inner wall. Then I see...I see him, and I can't stop him from falling," she said brokenly. Her friend sat quiet, his arms still tight around her. Alanya felt a little better for telling the dreams, but still was no closer to figuring them out.
"Is there anything else you recall from the dreams?" he asked softly.
"No," she replied as she shook her head. "This may be silly but, the fighter I see struck down..." she paused and sighed before continuing, "" he makes my heart want to sing for the sight of him." She could feel her face grow red and cursed herself for it.
To his credit she did not even feel Korry crack a smile. He often was concerned about her solitary ways, to which she always told him he fretted too much over her and needed to pay more attention to the state of his own affairs. She could feel him thinking over what to say and simply waited, lying exhausted in his hold.
"My heart-sister, these have the sound of premonitions."
Alanya sat up and leaned back against the back of the couch, still close to her friend. "But that doesn't make sense, brother! I've never had premonition dreams before. Ever! And you'd think with some of the demonic people I've hunted down and the scars I've gained doing it, you'd think if I had foresight it would warn me to get the hell out of the way sometimes!" She emphasized this last with an impatient whack on the back of the couch, wincing as she hit harder then intended. Her friend smiled and took the hand.
"Premonitions don't always come when we want them, sweet." He looked off in the distanceand tapped his fingers in thought, and then looked back at her. "Do you recognize the keep? Or the forest? What about either of the armies?"
She shook her head negatively, black shimmering hair falling into her eyes. "No! That's what I can't understand. There is not one device I recognize, neither the keep nor the forest. I do not recognize the trees in the forest and I've traveled the length and breath of the land, you know this."
He made a small sound of affirmation. "True.." he mused. Silence reigned for a heartbeat before he spoke again. "This doomed fighter you see...tell me of him."
Alanya's heart lurched. "He stands tall, nigh on six foot unless I miss my guess. His long hair is pulled back in braids, and it shines like gold even in the torchlight." She whispered. "I can tell from the armor he wears he is someone important, the leader of his forces, perhaps. And the armor is very elegant, like none I have ever seen." Something else occurred to her. "He is not human," she said slowly. "He seems to emanate a light around him, and he has strangely pointed ears."
"Hmmmm." Was her friend's only response.
"I don't know where this person is, but I have to find him, I have to!" she said, jumping up to pace to and fro as more feelings of urgency invaded her. Each night that went by, the feelings grew. It was that as much as the returning scene of the warrior's death that woke her every night. She could no longer sit idle and let the dreams continue, she wanted to find the reason behind them. "Aside from the fact that I want a decent night's sleep, there is something driving me to find this warrior. I will have no rest until I walk this path." She said with exasperation.
Korry chuckled. "Now that's my year mate," he said with a grin. It faded when he saw her begin to light all the candles in her room. "Alanya, what are you doing? You cannot mean to begin now. It's the middle of the night!" He protested.
"I have to," she replied quietly. "I can't just sit back and take a leisurely approach to this. I think there is more at stake then one person's life."
"You go back to bed and at least try to sleep the rest of the night, and preferably into the late morning," he retorted. "Let me search what I can find in the library texts. A little sleep missing will not hurt me. If there is a task coming that needs only you to handle it you best be rested and prepared."
She shook her head negatively, her long hair swaying with the motion. "Sorry Korry," she replied. I'd like to have the luxury, but I really should get started. This dream portends to me, I can't let you do the work." She pulled a couple books off of a shelf and placed them on a much- battered writing desk. Looking back over her shoulder she didn't see him stand up with purpose in his eyes.
Korry grasped Alanya's shoulder with one hand. When she turned to look at him with question in her eyes, he quickly placed the other hand on her temple and whispered a word. Alanya's eyes rolled up in her head and she sagged limply down, struck by her friend's sleeping spell. He shook his head and murmured to himself. "You always let me get by with that. How many times have I told you to keep your personal shields up even in a heavily shielded place like this. " He took a moment as he held her to scan the images of her dreams, a simple task since they were sitting right on the front of her mind, with little or no shielding surrounding the most recent one.
Deftly, he caught his friend and hefted her up, carrying her to her bed. He took a moment to study her visage as he laid her on the bed and pulled up a light blanket to her shoulders. "I'm not happy with the stress I see in your face even as you're asleep my friend. You rest, I'll search out knowledge of this strange dream world you've encountered." Korry leaned down to kiss her forehead, smiling as he saw she didn't even stir. No sound was heard as he left but he sliding of cloth over the floor and the click of the door as he left to research her premonitions.
