F I F T E E N
Just like in my dream, I was flying. Only, I flew as in the second part of my dream, where the trees had died and turned to gray, where I felt like shedding tears onto the dead ground. It reeked of death and war, and the sadness that enveloped the place was so depressing that seemed as if the earth was crying. Maximus flew closer to me, and seeing the woeful expression on my face squeezed my hand for strength before motioning for me to descend.
On the forest floor he put a finger to his lips for silence. "If you speak, They will hear you," he mouthed.
Who are They? I wondered, but kept silent. It was as if the trees would betray us. What crime where we committing?
Maximus and I walked the path for a long time. It wasn't so much of a physical path, but I could tell that Maximus knew where he was going. Each step he took seemed to land in an exact place, and the way he walked spoke of a mission. Out of boredom, I tried to copy him, stepping where he stepped, breathing when he breathed.
We were alone, but at the same time a thousand eyes were on us.
Max and I were both wearing a brown cloak, which he had told me to don earlier, "For my own safety." Now I wondered if the cloaks offered protection from the invisible eyes. If I was not wearing one, would I be dead?
I don't want to know.
In the distance I could see a town. In the middle of it was a tall tower with only one lit window. The light, unlike the others in the town, was solid, not flickering. A malicious shadow passes over the window, and I run to catch up with Max again as all the lights in the town shut off, leaving us with only the moon for light.
Soon we come to a hut in the woods. I half expect to find a old warty witch living in it, but when Max knocks nine times, then once, then two more, on the rotting door, only a little man comes to answer. And somehow I know-He's a Goblin.
He ushers me inside, where he says, once the door has closed, "Dwarf, actually." He takes us to a bookshelf, where, surprise-surprise, he pulls out a book before floor drops from beneath him, Max, and I.
I land in a dark dug-out pit. I think that the dwarf and my knight are next to me, but I can't be sure. Only thing I know is that I'm not wearing shoes and the dirt is cold.
"Hang on," says the Dwarf. There is a bunch of fumbling and loud noises, before, finally, I can see again. "You may shed your cloaks."
I do so, and the Dwarf leads us down a tunnel. "You can call me Valim, if you were wondering. And you may speak here, we are warded."
"Where are we going?"
"Your home, Queenling."