Faraam dreamt of boundless blue skies.
Beneath them, a land of ruins and destruction spread as far as the eye can see.
Suddenly, the sun rolled backward, soon disappearing behind the eastern horizon. The skies darkened and then were illuminated again as a radiant moon streaked across them, swift enough to turn into a blurry trail of light. A moment later, it was day again, and then, it was night once more.
Faraam first saw an army sieging a great pagoda that looms over the land.
Then he watched the magnificent city that was once ruins being sieged. Outside the walls, an army holding a black flag with a sigil of a golden crow in the middle.
Inside the walls was the defender army, who bore the same flag with a silver crow instead.
Time moved in reverse once again; the skies grew torn between light and darkness. The city wasn't attacked anymore; instead, it flourished, as green surrounded the city instead of dead soil. A river cut through the city with ships and boats sailing in it. Two massive buildings stood out the most; one was a great temple, the second a castle. The two were familiar to Faraam as he walked inside both of them in the past.
And that was when Faraam suddenly found himself inside the temple in a woman's body, dressed in a black flowing silk tunic that left his neck and shoulders exposed. A black serpent was coiled around his arms and neck, its scales so intricately tattooed.
Faraam looked around him and saw many other girls—around twenty—sitting on their knees, each away from the other, wearing the same dress and having the same tattoo.
Due to the dark room with the pale fire as the only source of light, he could barely see them.
'Where am I?'
He looked at the front, where an old man wearing dark priest clothes looked at Faraam and the other young girls.
'Seeing this guy's clothes, I suppose I'm in the temple. Since I transformed into Caela before touching the seed, the spell has given me a woman's body.'
That solved his question, but now he had another one... two actually.
'Who am I, and what is the deal with this tattoo?'
His question was answered as the priest spoke:
"Such a beautiful sight... young women devoting themselves to the lord! You choose to be a slave to our temple, to bear the lord's child... and when the child of shadows is born, surely the lord would forgive us for the late foolish king's mistake!"
The priest bowed to the ground and continued, "May we all find peace in the embrace of death!"
Faraam's body shivered from the man's words; nevertheless, he followed the other girls and spoke the same words.
After saying that, the priest walked away, and ten older women having the same tattoo walked to the front.
The one in the middle—the oldest—spoke first.
"When you hear your name, come at the front."
Faraam sighed, 'This might be a problem...'
He didn't know the name of the body he took.
As she started calling names, many stood up around him and walked toward her.
The woman called another name; this time, though, no one stood up.
She called the name again, and the same thing happened.
Until she called it the third time.
"Is Luna here?"
With no one responding, Faraam, who had secretly changed his body to Caela's without anyone noticing him, finally stood up and raised his dress and walked to the old woman.
"I-I'm sorry. I wasn't in my mind back then..."
The old woman looked at Caela's face, then her hair and eyes, then her body...
She nodded at Faraam and told him to stand behind her.
After calling everyone's names and dividing Faraam and the other girls into groups of two each led by the older temple slaves, they were escorted to their rooms.
Faraam glanced at the girl beside him; she had long wavy blonde hair, emerald green eyes, and long eyelashes. She was beautiful, not at the level of Caela's, Changing Star, or Cassia, but nevertheless it wouldn't be absurd to call her the second most beautiful in the city.
She wore the same dress as him and had the same black snake tattoo, which even after transforming into Caela, the tattoo didn't vanish.
After traversing the temple for a while, the three reached a door.
"This will be your room." The old temple slave said, "Both of you will live together; your duties will start in a week, and the day of conception in two."
Saying that the woman gave them both a key and walked away.
The two entered the room. It was a plain bedroom, with two beds, one table, and a wardrobe.
'Quite lavish, huh? They must really like us.'
"I'll take the right bed." Faraam spoke.
"Y-Yes? Of course you can take it."
Faraam nodded.
Sitting on the bed, Faraam recalled everything that happened the moment he entered the nightmare. The Dream, and if he was right then, the dream should be a hint given by the Nightmare Spell.
'I was right; this kingdom did really attack the pagoda.'
But this wasn't the thing he focused on; it was the siege of the city that piqued his interest.
'Two armies bearing the same flag... a civil war. Given what the priest said about the late foolish king. It must be a succession crisis.'
He glanced at the blonde girl who was checking the room.
'And the victor of the war must have sieged the pagoda...'
Faraam grinned. 'I can use this... with my aspect I can easily influence the war. Just like the Forgotten Shore, I'll ascend the ranks of the temple, control it, and manipulate the war so the one I choose to win becomes the new king.'
To achieve all that Faraam needed something... information. He also needs to find Sunny.
'For now let us focus on the first task; I'm sure he can survive.'