Dreams are a foreign concept for Oculus. Ever since he was born, he hasn’t dreamt anything, not even once. He listens to people talk about what they dreamt last night, and he would try to comprehend how it feels to do all those things they claim while their eyes were closed. How does it feel to walk on the beach and see a giant mechanical crab burst out of the water? What does tasting squid while doing a headstand feel like? He couldn’t even begin to describe it cause he never dreamt it.

When he realized how much he missed out on, Oculus made a dare to himself. One day, he will leave this village and travel the world. He’ll leave the rings and explore all the countries first, taking in their sights and food. Then when he’s done everything worth doing, he’ll head back into the rings, then climb Exxen Mountain. From that peak, he could see the entire world. He’ll take his lack of dreams, and force them to come to him via reality.

As Oculus’ eyes opened, it didn’t feel like any time passed. Dreams not only keep people entertained while they’re asleep, but they also help measure time passing in some regards. As for Oculus, due to his lack of visual sleeping stimulus, it felt no different than a blink.

He sat up, and a jolt of pain made him winced. He rubbed the side of his head and looked at his hand. It turned out he was bleeding because of the rocks hitting him. His fingers were dotted with a bit of red that only worsened his headache.

The stars were still in the sky, but the purple began to lighten instead of darken. The night was nearing its end, and that didn’t sit well with Oculus. That purple haired girl had such a huge head start on him that she’s probably close to escaping. He wanted answers about the outside world and who she was and why she was in their box, and he was going to get them.

Even if she has a head start on him, there was a way for him to find her. He just had to get there before she left the ring. Standing up, shaking off the blazing pain in his head, Oculus dashed into the woods.

***

She doesn’t know how long she’s been running. Her sense of time had broken ever since she stepped into the woods. Everything seemed to multiply, shift around, make mirages of themselves, then twirl around, trying to confuse her. She went by the same tree again and again, but she could have sworn that she made progress.

She rested by a tree, then a rock, then a tree, and repeated the process by three. Hope filtered out of her the more her legs moved, and the realization struck in slowly, dribbling into her head like dew would fall from a lead and splash on the ground.

She wasn’t just in any normal forest. She had to be inside of the rings. As soon as that realization hit home, the idea of her never getting home sunk in. Tears welled from her eyes, and she wiped them away. There would be no crying for her.

Something growled next to her, and she immediately activated her Gift. Four glowing blue stones formed around her and began orbiting around her head. She waited patiently, and whatever made the growling popped out from a bush in front of her. A Kinx strolled into view, claws out and ready to tear.

“Come at me.” The girl whispered.

Almost as if it understood her dare, the Kinx charged at her, fangs bared. She reacted immediately, sending all four stones at the beast’s head. They all slammed into it one by one, and it dropped to the ground, dead.

Kinx are normally solitary, but she didn’t want to risk another one waiting in the shadows. She had to get moving before something jumped her from behind. With the little golden honey of hope left in her, she dashed deeper into the woods.

The farther she went into the woods, the more dread and anxiety piled in her. She didn’t know why, but it was like her instincts screamed at her to not head further in. She ignored her inner self screaming at her and kept running forward.

Suddenly, a cave came into view, and she stopped before she accidentally ran inside. The cave molded itself out of a giant cliff face that stretched farther than her eyes could reach. She was about to turn and leave, but the shaking of bushes and trees behind her scared her enough to keep her moving. She stepped inside the cave and ran in before whatever was behind her could catch up to her.

As soon as she entered the cave, her labored breathing began to echo all around her. For a cave, the girl thought it was strange about the lack of moisture in the air. In fact, the deeper she went into the cave, the hotter it got. After a long time of walking, it felt like she had just stepped onto a beach during the afternoon in the middle of a heat wave. From head to toe, she began sweating like no tomorrow, to the point her pristine clothes began sticking to her skin.

Still, she kept moving. As far as she knew, there could be more Kinxes behind her, and there may be an exit at the other end of this place. All she had to do was keep moving.

Suddenly, the way ahead of her began to light up. It wasn’t natural light either. Instead of the white-like golden glow that the sun emits, instead the orange of fire was what came to greet her. And with that orange of fire came a row of torches lining the wall of a circular space within the cave. And in the center of all those torches was a massive creature of legend. A creature thought to never have existed in this world.

A hulking, red dragon lay sleeping in the center of everything. The heat that filled the room came from its breath as it slept. Just that fact alone let the embodiment of fear stab its way into her heart. Whatever was waiting for her out there, it would be significantly better than staying in here until that dragon woke up?

As she was about to make her escape, the sound of something running from the cave entrance echoed down the corridor. She stood in place, wondering what to do. The dragon stirred in its sleep, its deep breathing becoming more shallow as the footsteps grew closer.

She thought quick, looking around her for a place to hide. The least she wanted to do was be sandwiched in between whatever was coming this way and a dragon. She spotted a giant rock that was close enough for her to hide behind and big enough so nothing could see her from the other side. She jumped behind it and waited for whatever the thing was to step into the chasm.

The footsteps became much clearer as the person approached. Suddenly, the footsteps grew quiet, and when they began making noise again, it was in the same room they were.

“Long time no see, Moerchknel.”

The girl’s eyes went wide. She recognized that voice to a tee. She peeked from the safety of the rock, and when she laid eyes on the person standing there, she couldn’t believe it.

“You gonna wake up or not?” Oculus asked.

The dragon’s ears twitched, and just as Oculus commanded, the dragon’s eyes opened. Those narrow pupils dilated like a hungry predator as it woke up from a deep slumber so rudely interrupted by the human that was so prideful and idiotic that they dare to approach him. Its snake-like neck towered above Oculus. Its slim but muscular body rose with the grace of a king as its tail snapped at the ground, sending up dust and breaking a boulder that was conveniently sitting next to it.

It breathed in so hard that she could hear the air being vacuumed into its nose. Once it took in that deep of a breath, it exhaled, sending heated air around the room. For a second, it felt like her entire body was thrown into an oven. She could barely see with all the heat hitting her eyes, but when her vision cleared, she noticed that fire was rocketing out of the dragon’s nose.

“So you’re finally awake, Moerchknel.”

The dragons nudged its head, as if it was responding to what Oculus was saying.

“I’m doing fine. Yesterday was one hell of a day. Before I talk about that, I want to ask something.” Oculus sat on the cave floor and crossed his legs. He stared up, meeting the dragon’s eyes. “There was this purple haired girl I met a while ago. She wanted me to help her, so I did, but she knocked me out before we could talk. You have eyes over this entire forest, right? Can’t you track her down for me?”

The girl realized right away what that meant for her. In just a few seconds, the dragon will tell him that she’s waiting behind the rock, but what can she do? If she leaves from behind the only sense of safety she’s given, she’ll burn to a crisp from the dragon’s breath. What can she do but accept her fate?

“Wait, are you serious?” Oculus looked over to where the girl was peeking from, and she hid herself. Her body trembled from fear as she hoped that maybe, in some small chance that he didn’t see her.

That hope didn’t last as she heard something hit the top of the rock. Slowly, with terror shaking her bones, she looked up, and what she met was the most ugly creature ever known to man.

“Hey.” Oculus greeted.

She screamed, but all it did was echo.

***

Meanwhile, back at Mirth Village, Liam and Harold stared at the open door of the cage. The emptiness of the cage only stared back at them as if it were asking how they could be so dumb.

“Liam, I think we forgot to take the keys.” Harold said with an optimistic smile.

“Gee, you think.”

Liam dug in his bag with a heavy heart. He didn’t want to do it, but there was nothing else he could do. That girl’s too strong for them, even with her hands in cuffs. Not only that, but it’d be hell to keep their way if they dared to go and search for her.

Even though they’re in the Exxen Rings, there should still be a few bases lined up nearby. These people were hospitable to them, and he’s not going to do this lightly, but it was either him or them, and he’s choosing himself.

From his bag, he pulled out a small square object adorned with just a single button. He took a deep breath and lowered his thumb. Reinforcements are on their way.