. . . I dreamt wonderful dreams that night; dreams about happy, joyous times and beautiful women bowing to my every command. I felt warm inside and my body was free of all aches or pains. It was a great period of my lifetime…until I woke up, and it all went away in a flash.
As I blinked and strained my eyes to see in the sudden light, I felt a throbbing in my head. As if someone had driven a wooden plank fifty times over at my skull. I clasped my hand onto my head and was a little shocked to that it was free of an open wound. I began to wander away from where I had woken up, and then stopped dead in my tracks. I realized I had no idea where I was or, even, who I was. Then something else caught my eye: the forest I was in had no animals. The place was empty! Nothing but trees and grass as far as the eye could see! Well, not quite. I could see a town in the distance. It was nothing more than an inn, a smithy, and a few cottages. Nonetheless, I pressed toward the town stumbling and having to catch my balance multiple times.
Once I arrived at this town my mouth gaped open in disbelief. There were no people! It was like a ghost town, as if everybody who had lived there had suddenly got up and left without any reason. The forge still burned a bright red color, but I couldn't feel its warmth. The inn still echoed with the merry cries of happy patrons and soft music coming from an unknown source. I climbed the stairs of the inn and went into the only room I could find unlocked. It had a bed fit for a king and was decorated heavenly. I lay down on the bed but couldn't feel its soft silk sheets or hefty wool pillow at all. Then the sheen of a mirror caught my eye and I walked over to it. . .
What I saw still haunts me now. I saw myself, still dressed in my armor with my trusty long sword sheathed at my hip. I had a shield on my back that bore a strange insignia: a lion, blue in color and crafted into the shield perfectly. The blue and gold tabard I wore also had a lion graphic on it, this time it was a dull golden color. I then went pale with fear and spun around, looking to the wall behind my, then back to the mirror. I discovered a horror that sent me reeling back in shock, until my back hit the wall and I slid to my knees; I was transparent. An eerie blue tint seemed to coat my body and rise up off it, in a smoky form.