- 7th day of Hanotë

Part 5 - A Dream of Horrors

Elian woke up drenched in sweat, hair sticking to his forehead, his breath heavy as if he’d just ran for miles.

He took a deep breath, sitting up amongst his blankets, and took a trembling hand to his damp face. It was the middle of the night and the fire still crackled at his side.

Only a dream, he told himself, the same dream as always … but, as soon as he closed his eyes, sounds of terrifying screams filled his head, stealing his breath away and making his stomach clench.

He opened his eyes immediately, trying to regain control over his own mind, and allowed himself the necessary time to calm down.

With a deep breath he laid down again and closed his eyes prepared to face what would follow.

The screams came back in a chaos of suffering, agonizing voices. And, amongst the horror that surrounded him, the dark eyes of a child looked up straight at him, his small arms outstretched as he asked … begged that he would reach him, that he would pick him up and take him away from all those horrors …

Elian opened his eyes again, feeling sick to the core of his stomach, droplets of sweat rolling over his skin.

And yet a smile touched his lips. After all those years he had finally been able to recall part of his dream …

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