The Nightmare Begins

When I emerged from the other side of the portal, I landed face-first onto a wet marble floor.

The portal closed with a shwick above me as I furiously rubbed out my nose to ease the pain. When the pain subsided, I noticed that Iris had not followed me through the portal.

Good grief, I thought. What was that all about?

The air was frigid, cold enough to see my breath. As I wondered why I was freezing, I noticed that I was no longer wearing the thick green t-shirt and the warm jeans Iris had given me. In their place, I wore a tattered woolen tunic and a pair of drawstring trousers that barely reached the bottom of my shins. If it wasn't for my mother’s enchanted cloak, which Iris had the decency to return to me, and the pair of black boots on my feet, I would have frozen to death within the hour.

I stood in what looked to be a temple of sorts. It was a massive circular room with a roofless ceiling about a hundred feet above me. I could see the sun looking down at me through the opening, but heavy gray clouds obscured its full radiance. Rain steadily poured in through the opening, making the entire temple floor a massive slipping hazard.

It struck me odd that the temple was not flooded with water. Then I noticed a small river flowing through a carved trench through the center of the temple. I traced the river up to a set of massive stone doors at the other end of the room.

I marveled at the sheer magnitude of these doors. Each stood fifty feet tall and seemed as solid as the walls that enshrined them. There were no handles, no pulleys to indicate that they were ever meant to be opened.

As I drew closer to the behemoth, I noted a larger-than-life image of a golden, six-winged butterfly engraved across both doors. The butterfly, while intricate and painstakingly crafted, seemed terrifying due to its sheer size. Its wings reached the very edges of the doors, making it look more like a monster than a thing of beauty. Most unsettling was the low, steady roar that emanated from behind the barrier. So powerful was the roar that it shook the very foundations of the temple I stood upon. It was difficult to tell what was causing the noise, but I was in no hurry to find out.

I turned around and saw that the river led to a smaller entrance on the other side of the room. I quickly made my way over there, much glad to leave the larger doors and its ominous roaring behind. When I reached the smaller entrance, I realized that the river blocked the only way out. I had no choice but to plunge into the river in order to reach outside.

I grit my teeth as I plunged into the shin-high water. My ankle-length boots flooded with icy water, chilling my poor feet to the bone.

“You've got to be kidding me!” I shivered.

I wrapped my enchanted cloak as tightly as I could around my body as I ran through the icy river, splashing water everywhere. I thought about moving slowly so as to keep my trousers dry but the water was simply too cold. Every thought fled from my mind as I made the 40-something-meter trek through the icy river to open air.

As soon as I was outside, I immediately grabbed onto the ledge to my right. It was a bit of a climb pulling myself over the top, but I was able to clear the icy river below. A blast of cold air met me as I rolled onto the cold, marble platform. The gust was refreshing, exhilarating, but I knew it wouldn't be long before the cold would hurt me. I lay on the ground for just a few seconds more, ecstatic to be free of the river's icy grasp.

Get up, I thought. You're going to freeze to death.

Now on my feet, I took in the sight surrounding me, my first real glimpse of the nightmare I had stepped into.

The temple was situated on the top of a steep cliff in the middle of a muddy forest. Forest was a bit of an overstatement, because apart from the barren trees, a vast carpet of rotting mulch, and the countless puddles of mud, there wasn’t much else to be seen. The liveliest sight was the gray clouds hovering above the forest like an iron curtain. The wind chased the clouds like ship sails over a stormy ocean. They move so quickly that one could actually see the clouds moving out even from the corner of their eyes. The rain held steady though the wind seemed to grow stronger by the minute. The scent of petrichor was heavy in the air, but it was slightly off, almost as if it was being artificially produced.

The steps of the temple wrapped around the entire building like the steps of a pyramid or a dinky capital building. Between every dozen steps were large landings, each about three feet wide. I had a clear view of the temple and the forest surrounding me, yet Priscilla was nowhere to be seen.

“Iris!” I hollered. "We had a deal!”

No response.

I wanted to believe that Iris had kept her end of the bargain and sent me close to where Priscilla was. I saw no reason for her not to since I had already agreed to help her find her prisoner on pain of breaking a magical covenant. Why she couldn’t bother to send me directly to my friend was beyond me.

“I’m heading down this general direction,” I said pointing down the marble steps. “Feel free to say something if I get too far off-track."

And I began my descent.

As my flooded boots pit-pattered against the cold marble, I tried to let the numbing cold of the rain take my mind off my recent failures, to no avail.

Sure, we had the worst of luck when the assassin attacked the moment I left her side, I told myself. But that doesn't change the fact I had let her down when she needed me most. And this time, I had all the magic in the world to help her, too!

I caught myself, aware that I was about to enter a vicious thought cycle about my past failures.

Damn it, I'll get her out, I promised myself. Don't beat yourself up again. You'll make it up to her, whatever the cost. That should be enough.

"You have some nerve showing your face again," a sullen voice said.

It took me a moment to realize that it was not my own voice that had spoken.

I looked up in alarm to see a hooded woman standing at the very bottom of the staircase I was on. Her hood and her pink hair obscured her eyes, making it difficult to see who she was.

Has she been there the entire time? I thought as I locked my legs in place, stopping myself.

The woman remained motionless and expressionless, almost as if she couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. She opened her mouth to speak before closing it again. Her lips betrayed a snarl she was clearly trying to hide.

I carefully summoned the Mocles Saber but kept it lowered.

When the woman saw the blade, she immediately began to climb the staircase toward me.

“Please tell me you aren’t a part of the nightmare,” I said walking slowly back up the stairs, keeping my eye trained on my adversary. "I don't want to fight."

"Is that so?"

The woman began to move faster, taking two steps at a time now. I jumped back up the stairs to maintain the distance between us.

“Scared?” she said, laughing maliciously. "Oh, I'm going to have so much fun killing you, you rotten coward."

My foe raised her right hand, revealing a long, white-glove laced with golden thread. On the glove's palm was a flat, flexible pad that looked like a healing stone, innocuous enough. But there was a glint of sharp metal that caught my eyes. Then I saw it: resting above the glove, slightly hidden by a thick red cloth, four long metal spikes, each about as thick as a pencil. Despite their thinness, the spikes looked sharp enough to pierce a brick wall.

She pointed her right hand at me and made a fist.

I heard a soft click within her glove.

I immediately threw a kinetic barrier over me.

Moments later, there was an explosion of metal shrapnel mere inches from my face.

Had I been but a second slower, the spike would have found a nice home in my frontal lobe.

“Hey, what's the deal?" I cried. "I just wanted to talk!"

The woman fired at me again. This time, the entire sky lit up as if I was staring directly into a floodlight. I was baffled at what had caused the flash of light. Then I heard the thunderous boom of thunder directly above me. When vision returned to my eyes and hearing to my ears, I noticed a ring of singed marble around the base of my kinetic barrier.

Lightning! I thought. Wait, lightning!

My stomach sank as I finally realized why the woman's voice sounded oddly familiar.

"Priscilla! It's me!"

"You think I didn't notice?" was her reply.

My heart began to race as if I had been hit in the chest.

I felt sick from the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

And for the first time since I entered the dream, I was angry.

There was absolutely no reason for her to attack me like this, unless-

“Why are you attacking me?” I yelled.

Priscilla kept her right hand pointed at me like a loaded shotgun but did not fire the third shot, not yet.

"It's only fair," she replied, seeing my confusion.

"What does that mean? What happened?"

She may not remember who you are, Iris said slyly.

You better not have had anything to do with it!

All who enter the dream must leave their past behind, she said, clearing quoting something. All who enter are guilty. Perhaps your lord has left her past behind. Perhaps you are guilty.

Now is not the time for riddles!

Iris didn't respond.

I began to shiver uncontrollably, and I don't think the cold was to blame.

Because if my Host was telling the truth, I had to convince an angry Seraph I meant her no harm.

I dismissed the Mocles Saber and held out my hands in front of me. Priscilla's temper seemed to subside just a bit, but she was no less angry than before.

“Tell me,” she said through gritted teeth, “Are you a phantasm, or are you the real deal?"

"I'm-"

"Either way, you’re dead.”

Thousands of black strands shot out from the right side of her back, tearing through the back of her cloak. In a moment, they took the rough shape of an angel’s wing held solely in place by her magic. Every strand responded to her will immediately, like a nest of snakes enchanted by a skilled charmer. Together, they created the single most powerful weapon known to the world-a Seraph wing.

Without warning, Priscilla leaped toward me with murderous intent.

I swore I heard Iris laughing in the back of my mind.

It was at that moment that I realized that the Priscilla standing before me may not have been who I thought she was, just like Eleanor ending up being someone only pretending to be her.

The only difference was that this time, the imposter was actually trying to kill me.