I didn't wake up suddenly like from an ordinary fright. It was more as if my body had returned before my mind. My eyes opened, but for a few seconds I was still there, trapped in that white, overly silent landscape. The room in Vailor looked normal—the simple walls, the dim light coming through the window—but the cold I felt didn't come from the surroundings.
It came from within.
I sat up slowly in bed, running a hand over my face. The cold sweat at my temples was real. My heart was still racing, as if I had just finished running. The flame inside me was restless, spinning at a strange, irregular rhythm, as if it had been touched by something that didn't belong to this world.
I knew why.
The dream hadn't been ordinary. It hadn't been confused or fragmented like most dreams. It had weight. Presence. I could still see those overly white eyes, fixed on me, as if they didn't need eyelids to blink. And the smile… it wasn't mocking, nor angry. It was a patient smile. The kind of smile of someone who knows that time always works in their favor.
I got out of bed and opened the window. The morning air of Vailor was fresh, carrying the distant smell of bread baking and iron being hammered. The city was waking up as always, oblivious to the fact that, somewhere, something much greater was also awakening.
"Damn it…"
I muttered softly, more to myself than to the world.
From the other side of the room, I heard an irritated groan. Vespera turned over on the improvised bed that insisted on creaking with every movement. She opened one eye, then the other, clearly annoyed.
"If this is another supernatural panic attack before breakfast, I swear I'm going to miss an arrow on purpose and hit you."
"You already miss all of them," I replied without thinking.
She sat up, throwing a pillow at me. "Very funny. What is it now?"
Before I could answer, Elara appeared at the doorway, her hair tied up haphazardly and her face clearly tired. The dark circles under her eyes were a bit more pronounced than usual. Low mana did that to her. It always had.
"You felt it too?" she asked bluntly.
I nodded.
"It wasn't just a dream," I added.
Liriel appeared right behind her, yawning, with that eternally distant expression that mixed divinity and uselessness in almost offensive proportions. She rubbed her eyes and looked straight at me, as if she already knew the answer before even asking.
"That cold wasn't from here," she said. "Nor from you. It came from outside."
Vespera sighed. "Great. We barely got back from a chaotic arc, we're still paying off debts, and now we have shared nightmares. Wonderful."
I tried to laugh, but it didn't come out.
The dream had left something stuck to me. A persistent sensation that I was being watched even while awake. As if the contact hadn't ended when I opened my eyes.
After an improvised and unenthusiastic breakfast, we went to the Guild. Routine helped push bad thoughts to the back of the mind, even if only for a few hours. Vailor was busy. Apparently, several groups had returned almost at the same time, all looking for work, money, and answers.
On the mission board, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Hunting minor monsters, clearing roads, escorting merchants. Simple missions. Normal. The kind of thing that should have reassured me.
But it didn't.
When I reached out to take one of the scrolls, the flame reacted. Not with pain, nor with excessive heat, but with a slight pull, as if something inside me had recognized a specific direction.
I slowly pulled my hand back.
Elara noticed. "What is it?"
"Is there any mission to the north?" I asked.
She frowned, checking quickly. "There is… yes. An area cleanup near a ravine. Nothing special. Why?"
I looked at the map pinned to the wall. The north of Vailor had always been unstable. Dense forests, ancient ruins, and now… rumors.
"Because that's where this feeling is coming from," I replied.
Vespera crossed her arms. "Are you saying this based on supernatural intuition or accumulated paranoia?"
"Both," I answered honestly.
We ended up taking a regular mission, precisely to avoid raising suspicion or drawing unnecessary attention. It wasn't time to chase omens yet. At least, that's what I tried to convince myself.
The road was far too quiet. The kind of quiet that unsettles experienced adventurers. No monsters in sight, no strange sounds, not even insects making noise. Liriel commented something about areas "contained by a greater force," but soon gave up explaining when she realized no one was really paying attention.
It was only when we reached the marked point of the mission that I found the first concrete sign.
The body.
It was an adventurer's. Broken armor, frozen from the inside. There were no signs of a prolonged fight. Just… interruption. As if everything had stopped in the middle of a movement.
Elara knelt down, examining it carefully. "It wasn't a common monster."
Vespera swallowed hard. "It wasn't my fault, before anyone says anything."
Liriel touched the guild symbol on the man's chest and closed her eyes. Her light magic glowed faintly, limited, almost timid. Even so, it was enough for her to feel something.
"He didn't die here," she said. "He was… emptied."
My stomach turned.
The cold returned. The same as in the dream.
"We're too close," I murmured.
"Close to what?" Vespera asked.
I didn't answer right away. I looked north, beyond the trees, where the land began to rise slowly.
"Someone who is preparing," I finally replied.
The flame inside me stirred again, stronger this time. Not as a warning. As recognition.
I didn't yet know who he was exactly. I didn't know his name, nor his full form. But one thing was clear, clearer than any dreamlike vision.
He already knew who I was.
And that dream… hadn't been a warning.
It had been an introduction.