"You… well, I'll be damned. You actually did it! Here, you should get home and have a feast! I can't wait to tell your mother tomorrow…" My father laughed loudly as he wiped tears of joy from his eyes. Placing me in front of the wolf's corpse, I watched as blood spilled around me on the ground, thick and glistening.
But it didn't matter, did it?
Wrapping me in his warm embrace and lifting me up, my father took the axe which he had lodged into the ground, turning back to our cottage that burned with a homey, warm light.
I watched wistfully.
My heart beat fast against my chest, and my breath was quick and uneven, but I tried to calm myself down and look through everything rationally. What had just happened? First of all, I gauged my father's power.
The basis of his power seems to be chains.
Or tendrils, or whatever they really are.
And the second was Am.
This so-called "life energy of the universe", as I myself had dubbed it, looked to have limitless applications if it was really how my father described it. And glancing at the blissful look on his face, he probably didn't have a lying bone in his body. I'd take my chances in betting on him.
Hah… how interesting.
I can't move.
The fatigue is too much.
It should be expected of course, as the body I was in wasn't fully developed yet, but I had thought for just a second that there was something special about me. Except for the 'Mark', it seemed that there was no such thing.
Pfff… what did it matter?
I had done it!
I had left my own mark on this world.
And it was "me" — nobody else.
What a feeling…
The center of my chest burned with a searing, numb pain.
I didn't realize that a haze was overtaking my body until it was too late.
Crowded darkness wrapped my vision as I tried to scream— but no sound escaped my mouth. I barely saw my father's face and humming voice disappear before everything was replaced with a foggy, shadowy vision.
"He is near."
You again?! This fucking woman…
Who was she to penetrate my mind like this? Especially when I was weak!
The first few nightmares didn't matter much to me, but this was too much. She had somehow taken control of my mind, and my eyes through… what? My 'Mark'? I recalled a pain in my chest before I had been taken to this godforsaken void… was that it?
I'll keep my options open.
No, I'm not in danger right now.
Deep breaths… yes.
Who was near? I needed to know more. If I was going to be dragged into this vision again, then I would have to make the greatest use of it. The previous premonitions didn't make sense, but this one could be better.
I wonder if Am would make the dreams better?
Not like I was in a position to try it out.
Like I was drowning in the wide-open ocean, my arms and legs flailed rapidly, but my mind remained calm as I exhaled softly, letting my eyes remain half-closed. Fog snaked around my back and my neck as I then opened my eyes.
The effect of shattered glass crushed me as I keeled backwards.
But… there was nowhere to fall.
A warm, kind light filled my eyes as my vision slowly returned to normal.
It was standard procedure for these kinds of nightmares…
Fuck… I don't feel so great…
This time, I felt much more submerged in the dream than the random scene flashes I had before. My bare feet were crushed against the grass as winds blew against me, but there was something very different— why did I feel so out of my own body… ah. My feet weren't human. Instead, they were like wolves' paws.
Except they were gargantuan. Much larger than what I just killed.
I felt every single step force the ground to crack and rumble as my own snarls whispered to the air. I tried to control my movement, but I couldn't do anything. Glancing around, I saw the faint silhouette of trees disappearing behind me— "I" had just walked into open terrain.
Long, windswept grass…
A light atop the hill…
Warm, homey..
Fuck, was this where I lived? The outskirts of the Sherwood? Had I possessed the vision of some creature? Wait, if that was the case, wasn't this terrible?! This monster had to be at least twenty times bigger than the ones previously.
And the fucking problem was, it was great at stalking.
Even though the ground was left trembling in its wake, I could tell that it was probably close to invisible during times of darkness. Its fur was matte black, and so was every part of his body— only his forehead was dotted with damp white spots.
My vision began to close in on the cottage.
Pain racked through my body as a presence seemed to bore into my skull, like it was aware of my existence. Fighting the terrible feeling, I forced myself to watch as the monster's vision fixed onto something— and that something was Sara.
She was with my mother and Cidris downstairs now.
I saw the food on the dinner table, and I heard Sara's laugh.
But… What was this? No… NO!
My vision began to blur and flash red as I saw something overlay on top of what I was currently seeing— Sara's head, fragile and soft, was torn through, ripped from her body and mercilessly tossed aside as I saw, through my own fucking eyes, the horrified, helpless look on the faces of my mother. With my peripheral vision, I saw Cidris trying to move— only he couldn't. Then, the vision further zoomed onto something— it bled through a corridor, into a painting, down a stairwell… wait, where was this going?
Finally, it stopped in front of a small door with a single keyhole in the middle.
I… had never seen this in the cottage before! I was confident I had explored everything already, so what…
Fuck, what was this?
Innately, I already understood most of it.
"He is near." The voice thrummed against my skull again.
I knew what this meant now.
It was desire.
The desire to kill Sara— that was the desire of this monster. And, judging based on how powerful it was, my trust in my father damn near wavered! But no, I was sure my father could take care of this thing.
And yet… What if he couldn't?
What then?
Then… no. That wasn't a possible outcome. I wouldn't let it happen. Even though I couldn't affect the situation directly, I could still do something. Anything. I didn't know what stroke of luck made me look through this vision— maybe it was "Him", maybe it was that damn woman, I didn't know!
But I was grateful.
Slowly, my eyes opened for the second time.
Everything had returned to normal.
"Am-Am? Are you back?" My father said, shaking my head slightly, his eyebrows knitted together in worry. I realized that I had been placed against a thick root, and that my father's hand was placed on my forehead.
Damnit, I had a fever…
"Tell me what you saw." He said.
Ah shit… I'm busted. Well, I was going to tell him anyway.
I wonder how long he had known?
Looking down, my shirt was no longer on my body, and my 'Mark' had noticeably changed. It had only taken up a small bit of area before, but now its searing, inky darkness took up over a quarter of my chest space.
Smoke wafted off of it.
So… it was the 'Mark' after all.
"There's… a monster. It wants… kill Auntie Sara. It… forest… hidden door… key… Cidris can't fight…" Barely holding onto my consciousness, I fought to stay awake, but my eyes were already threatening to close.
No… NO!
I needed to hear my father's words.
Almost there…
Why did father seem so unusually calm?
"You… your 'Mark' isn't normal, is it? Are you… could you be an Heir? The visions and dreams, it all makes sense... Khyra… no, it's probably Maelirith— but what kind of god would willingly help someone who wasn't even their blessed? " My father grit his teeth, shaking his head rapidly.
Then, his expression became one of deep melancholy.
"Sara… all because of your bloodline… you have to go through this…"
Sighing, my father raised his rusty axe as hundreds of strands of light began to swirl around him and the weapon. His robes fluttered as he walked forward like a beast, head tilted, eyes glowing with purity, and muscles bulging with strength.
"This needs to end, Cuswoth."