The Dream
The dream came to Tobias again. He awoke and found himself at the edge of the lake, no longer on the stony ledge where he fallen asleep. Immediately Tobias sensed that something was amiss. The night creatures - humming crickets, whistling frogs, looping bats – were all silent. All Tobias could hear was the lapping of the lake as it caressed the shore. The sound got louder and, turning to the water, Tobias saw a head emerge, then a neck, shoulders and form of a woman. Striding firmly, she materialized in front of him. Tobias tried to see her face, but it was covered by a veil which billowed behind her in the night breeze, the bluish darkness of its material somehow reflecting the stars above.
"Who are you?" Tobias asked. There was no trace of a stammer in his voice.
The woman shook her head in reply.
"Who are you?" he insisted. This time she did not shake her head, but pulled Tobias down beside her. Tobias knew what he had to do and he wanted to do it. It was all flesh and passion. Tobias scarcely knew where the softness of the veil ended and softness of her skin began. She trembled beneath him as he exploded into the sky.
Tobias did not know for how long he lay there. Eventually he pushed himself up, determined to see her face, but she was no longer underneath him. Somewhere deep within his psyche, Tobias knew that this part of the dream had never happened before. He jumped up and turned towards the lake. She stood at the water's edge, facing him. Without hesitation, she raised both hands and removed the veil from her face. Tobias was met by Luna's faint smile and his heart leaped.
"Luna," he cried, longing to hold her again. Her expression changed.
"Tobias," her voice was like the lapping of the lake "you're bleeding."
Tobias looked at his hands. They were covered in blood.
"Tobias," she said again. In slow motion, Tobias looked back at Luna, but her face was once again covered with the veil. Her hands too, were caked in blood, as were her thighs. At her feet, the two panther-cubs which they'd left in the forest to die were mewing pitifully. "If you want me to live, the child must die."
Tobias tried to respond but found he couldn't speak; blood was dripping from his arms onto the smoothed stones at his feet. "Tobias," he heard again. But he could no longer see. Blackness was enveloping him. "Only one of us can live."
The ground slid out from beneath him. He was falling, falling into a never-ending pit.
As a strangled cry escaped his throat, Tobias woke up.