Dreams and Visions

"Drowning is the most peaceful way to die."

Someone had said that once. Whoever it was, lied. Her lungs were on fire. She tried to move, but she could not even tell if she was through the pain in her body. Desperately, she tried to reach the surface of the water, but she was no longer sure which way was up. Her vision was blurring, and soon she could see nothing but darkness. And then everything went white.

Her eyes opened, and Aila found herself in a place most strange. The pain disappeared from her, and she felt... floaty. Her feet did not feel as if they were touching any floor, she felt as if she was hovering in... somewhere. Everything was white. She looked up, down, left, right, but she saw nothing. She took a step forward and began walking. At least she thought she did, her feet made no footfall and there was no way to tell if she was moving. Where in Oblivion am I?

"Listen close, for there is little time."

Aila spun around and saw a man. "Wh... where am I? Am I... am I dead?"

"Far from it," the man said. "You are merely unconscious. Very soon, your little werewolf will revive you, but for now, there is something you must know."

"Wait... do I know you?" He looked strangely familiar.

"You have seem me before, but you do not know me. We are speaking now, only through a soul. A soul that you took."

A soul? Aila thought. That I took? "What are you talking about?"

"Think, Aila. When you killed him, his flesh burned away. The light you saw? The light that healed you?"

Burning flesh... Strange lights... It all sounded so familiar. And then it hit her. "The dragon." She remembered now. The dragon she killed. It seemed so long ago. And the man. The man she saw in her vision. It was the same man standing before her now. "So it was you. You sent the dragon after us. Why? Who are you?"

"To make you stronger," he said. "You have power. Unimaginable power, locked away inside you. And the key, is dragon souls. But that is not enough. That is only part of it. You have many trails ahead of you, some of which I created, and along the way you will find words. Many of them will be set in place by me. Only you will recognize them as words, however. Others will only see them as scratches on the wall. You must learn these words, and use them to harness the power within you. With each word you learn, and each soul you take, you will become more and more powerful."

Aila tried to process that. "Are... are saying I have to kill more dragons?"

"It is inevitable."

"How? I could barely kill one the first time, I can't do it again!" Suddenly, Aila screamed in pain. Her chest felt like it was on fire. Her ankle felt as if it had been shattered.

"You are waking up," The man said. "Do not tell anyone about this conversation, Aila. Not even your werewolf."

"Wait, who are you? How do you know me?" She screamed again.

"I have been watching you for a while now. I will reveal myself to you when you are ready. Do not expect to see me again. In fact, I should not have even come to you now, when you are still unprepared, but I am running out of time." He started to fade.

"No, wait! I still have..." Her sentence was interrupted by a fit of coughs that suddenly came upon her. She started to cough up water. Her eyes snapped open, and she was laying in a forest. She jerked up in a violent fit of coughs, and water came pouring out her mouth.

When at last the coughs subsided, and she could breathe again, she felt arms wrap around her, and a warm body press against hers. "Thank the Gods, I thought I'd lost you."

Kathryn. Aila held on to her as tightly as her weakened body would allow. She winced at a sharp pain in her leg, and when she looked down she whimpered. There was an arrow was sticking out of her ankle. "Kat..." her voice came out hoarse and whispered, and there was a pain that came with it.

Kathryn looked at her, her silvery eyes full of concern. "Don't talk, save your energy."

"Arrow..." Aila said.

"I know, I know," Kathryn said. She looked at her wound in distress. She reached into her armour and pulled out a vial. "This healing potion is all I have, but I don't think it's enough to heal you all the way. And also..." she shook her head. "Aila, I can't do this."

"Kat... I can't have... an arrow in my foot."

"I know, but... I can't be the one to take it out."

"There is no one else."

"But... but..."

Aila couldn't help but wonder why she was acting this way. "I know... It'll hurt... but you need... to do it."

"It's not just that," Kathryn said. She hesitated for a moment. "The blood... it... when I smell blood it makes me..."

"Oh." Of course. Kathryn was werewolf. The smell of blood must have some kind of effect on her. "You never... had a problem before," Aila said.

"I've never been around this much blood for so long before," Kathryn said.

Aila held out her hand and, as she expected, Kathryn took it. "Kathryn, please... just... do it. I trust you."

Kathryn looked at her desperately before finally giving up and moving closer to Aila's wound. Aila flinched slightly as she grabbed the arrow. "Are you ready?" she asked.

Aila took a deep breath and nodded. In one quick motion, Kathryn yanked the arrow out, and Aila, though she tried not to, cried out in pain. Kathryn then grabbed the potion vial and uncorked it. She poured the contents over the wound. It stung at first, but was soon followed by a small relief as the wound started to close. Kathryn was right however, and it was not enough to heal it all the way. Aila was still grateful for the small help it provided, though. Kathryn pulled out some bandages from somewhere in her armour and started to wrap them as best she could around Aila's ankle. "There, it's done," Kathryn said.

"Thank you," Aila said. She looked at Kathryn and noticed something strange. She was breathing unusually heavily, and there were flickering, golden specks in her eyes.

"Right. I... I need some air." She stood and walked away a bit. Not very far though, she was still within sight.

Aila watched her lean against a tree and bring a hand to her mouth. She was beginning to wonder just what Kathryn was going through. She knew Kathryn often fought back certain urges, she said as much before, but she never said just how difficult it could get. Aila worried for her. She wanted to help in some way, but she had no idea how. Right now, all she was doing was making it harder for her.

But her attention was soon pulled away from Kathryn, and instead to the tree she was leaning on. There were odd scratches on it. Normally, Aila wouldn't think anything of it, but when she saw it, her dream came rushing back to her. She remembered what the strange man had said. "Only you will recognize them as words, however. Others will only see them as scratches on the wall." Is that what he was talking about? There was only one way to find out.

Aila tried to stand, but she found it harder than she expected. Her efforts did not go unnoticed by Kathryn. She came running back toward Aila. "Hey, what are you doing? You shouldn't be standing up." Her eyes no longer contained golden spots, only worry.

"I need to see something," Aila said.

"Whatever it is, it can wait."

"No, it's... ow... it's important."

"Not as important as keeping as keeping you unharmed."

"Just help me get to that tree, then I'll stay put."

Kathryn looked at the tree she was pointing to. "The one that's all scratched up? Why?"

"I need to see something," Aila said again.

Kathryn sighed. "Alright." With Kathryn's help, Aila managed to stand. "Why do I let you do these things?" Kathryn asked.

"Because you love me," Aila said.

Kathryn smiled. "As much as that's true, I don't see what that has to do with it."

"You just can't resist my unbridled charms."

Kathryn laughed. "You're right. I'm helpless against you."

Aila laughed along with her. After everything that happened, it was good to know that neither of their spirits had been diminished.

"So," Kathryn said. "What was it that you were so intent on seeing?"

"This," Aila said, feeling the markings on the tree with her hand.

They were a series dots and lines combined in an odd fashion. It looked as if someone carved the markings into the tree, and recently too, by the looks of it.

"What's so special about it?" Kathryn asked.

"Look at it, doesn't it seem weird to you?"

She watched the marking for a moment before answering. "Now that you mention it... at first I just thought just random scratches some animal made... but now that I look at it, it looks like it was intentionally made. It almost looks like some kind of writing."

"That's because it is," Aila said.

Kathryn looked at her. "How do you know?"

"I... I'm not sure. I just know it is."

Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Oh. I see." She studied the markings for a bit. "I wonder what it says."

Aila felt the last section of the markings. "This part here... It's different somehow."

"Different how?"

Aila shook her head. "I don't know, but..." suddenly her eyes widened. "Kat... I can't see."

"What?"

"I can't see! The last word it... it's so bright." It was like it was burning into her eyes. Everywhere she looked, it was there. So bright, it drowned out everything else. She shut her eyes, but she could still see it. Not knowing what else to do, she waited. She stood still, holding onto Kathryn until finally, the word faded away. After several minutes, when her eyes finally adjusted back to the darkness, Aila loosened her grip on Kathryn.

"Are you alright now?" Kathryn asked.

Aila nodded. "Yeah."

"So you can see?"

"Yes."

Kathryn let out a sigh of relief. "Why do these strange thing keep happening to you?"

Aila wanted to tell her about her dream, but something was holding her back. The mysterious man had told her not to tell anyone. He seemed... powerful. Not the sort of person you would just ignore. "I don't know," she said. "I just wish they would stop."

"I don't blame you," Kathryn said. She looked back to the tree. "What did you mean when you said the last word was so bright?"

"The markings are words. I don't know what the rest says, but, for some reason, I know what the last word means now."

"And what does it mean?" Kathryn asked.

"Su," Aila told her. "Air." She wasn't sure why, but she was pretty sure that she was supposed the yell the word while she was fighting. What that would do and how it would help, she didn't have the slightest idea.

"Why would this be written on a tree, in a strange language that you can somehow read? Well, partly anyways."

"I don't know, Kat. I... I just want to get back to Riften."

Kathryn smiled sadly at her. "Of course you do."

Aila tried to walk, but she found it exceptionally difficult. "Why don't you let me carry you?" Kathryn offered after Aila nearly collapsed from a misplaced step.

"What, all the way to Riften?" Aila said.

"You know I'm stronger than I look. Besides, you'll only worsen your wound if you keep walking on it."

"Alright. Just... let me down when we get back to the city."

"Of course."

Kathryn picked her up off her feet and held her in her arms. Aila had to admit, it wasn't all that bad. Kathryn was warm and soft, and there was a wonderful relief in her foot when the pressure was lifted, though it still pained her. "What happened after I, well... you know."

"I noticed you were in trouble, so I came after you," Kathryn said. "I carried you to the shore and then into the forest. Luckily, the guards didn't care enough to follow. Once I was far enough in the forest, I set you down and tried to revive you. I don't know what I would have done if I failed."

"But you didn't. You succeeded, and I'm still alive." Aila lifted herself up and pulled Kathryn into a deep kiss. When she pulled away, Kathryn laughed unexpectedly. "What?" Aila asked.

"Sorry. You're just so small."

"And how is that funny?" Aila demanded.

"It's adorable."

"Here I am trying to be comforting, and you making fun of how short I am." Despite her angry tone, Aila felt oddly flattered.

"Oh, don't be that way. I said sorry."

Aila humphed and crossed her arms. "No more kisses for you."

But that only resulted in another laugh from Kathryn.