Snow wasn’t used to being blind. Sitting underneath the tree, breathing slowly. She was doing her best not to let her loss of eyesight get her and dive into a spiral of fear. Concentrating on her other senses, she used her sense of touch, smell, and even hearing as it slowly started to compensate for what she had lost. It wasn’t easy.

In the beginning, she would flinch every time she heard leaves breaking. The soft touch of the wind tickling her body and even the smell of the forest was something that she noticed a lot more than she realized. Oddly enough, when she moved her head in a specific direction, she could smell an odd smell of decay and death, while if she moved her head to another, the smell wasn’t as strong.

Even now, Snow could tell that her magic was still exhausted. She needed sleep as the mental fatigue was still heavy on her mind.

“Snow,” Dairen's voice called out near her.

Snow flinched. She thought she heard his voice right next to her ears.

A cold flash of metal touched her skin.

Snow opened up her hand, grabbing the water bottle in hand. Instantly, she knew what it was. At first, she stopped herself from opening up the bottle and drinking the water. Instead, she took a moment to feel the cold metal in her hand. In the past, she wouldn’t think twice and opened up the water bottle without much thought and drank out of it, but now, because of her sight, she took her time.

Opening up the water bottle, she pulled back her head and drank. A hint of metallic taste and freshness of cold escaped into her lips and ran down her throat. The taste was strong enough to jolt her.

“How are your eyes?” Dairen asked. He took the water bottle from her when she was done.

“Still the same.”

“We should rest for a moment then.” Dairen came over and sat down next to her. He placed his warm hand on her forehead. “Nothing physical out of the ordinary. I’m glad that you are okay.” He pulled his hand away.

Snow took a sigh. She leaned on his shoulder, closing her eyes. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“Just being here.”

“You’re welcome.”

Snow chuckled. “You are one of the few that I can lean on.”

“I’m glad to be at that resting place.”

“When we get out of this dungeon, let’s go on a three-month vacation.”

“To where?”

“I don’t know. To the beach?”

“Let’s do that.”

Snow felt heavy. Drowsiness set in, causing her to doze off. She tried to stay awake, but she couldn’t.

“Take a rest. I’ll keep watch,” Dairen’s voice helped her lull her to sleep.

For the next hour, she fell into a deep sleep. Even when she was nudged to be woken, she didn’t even budge.

Dairen had to pick her up and disappear with her in his arms as a group of the monster army came parading not too far away. He didn’t want to wake Snow up nor start a fight when he needed to conserve as much energy.

Upon silently walking through the forest, he dodged out of sight from another group of monsters patrolling the area. He had sent the four generals at a time to lure the monsters away and only fought when necessary.

Eventually, he found a small cave that hid them away from sight. Snow was gently placed down in the corner of the cave, where he pulled out from his storage a blanket that he covered her with.

It didn’t take long for him to get to work. He covered the front of the cave with broken branches and leaves.

Dairen heard a rustle.

One of his generals came over and gave him a bow.

With a wave of his hand, the general disappeared back into Dairen's shadow.

For the next couple of hours, Snow fell deeply into sleep. Her dreams were vivid, almost frighteningly uncomfortable as she twisted and turned. The same dream that she had the first time played in her head. Again, a beautiful angel with wings opened, this time holding a sword in her hand. It blazed brilliantly blue to the point where anyone who stared at it would be blinded.

Opposite of her was the shadow that watched over the angel in the shadows. This time, the shadow was much more prominent, taking shape as she clearly saw the shadow’s red eyes. Its black wings opened up, curly black horns grew out of its head.

It pointed its finger at Snow, a wicked smile dashed across its lips.

“You’re next.” The demon's words were low with a growl. Then, a burst of black fire erupted all around them, surrounding the angel.

A sword of black flames appeared in the demon's hand.

The angel glared. “We shall end this dance, demon.”

“Yes. Yes, we shall.”

A blast of dark and light energy smashed into each other, blinding Snow, who watched the whole event. Shockingly powerful energy crackled all over her body, causing her to jolt in pain.

Snow woke up, yelping. Her body scrunched over, breathing heavily.

Dairen appeared beside her, watching over Snow.

Her hand reached out to grab hold of Dairen’s arm. Snow gripped a little too hard as Dairen clamped down on his teeth.

The momentary flashes backs of the dream rocked her mind until it finally let her go, allowing her to breathe a little deeper.

“Snow?” Dairen was able to squeak out those words. “Snow?”

Snow closed and opened her eyes. Even though she could still not see, she was able to feel a bit more around her. Her senses were sharper. Her nose picked up Dairen’s scent.

“Snow?” Dairen called her out again.

This time Snow answered. “I’m okay, now.”

“It doesn’t seem like it. Did you have a nightmare?”

“Yes.”

“What kind?”

Snow knew in her heart who and what she had a dream about. “The demon king.”

“You sure?”

“Yea. I just have been getting stronger and stronger these days. I just didn’t think it would be different this time around.”

“Wait, you have been having these dreams about the demon king?”

“At first, I didn’t know it was the demon king. Then, I keep having the same dream about an angel and a shadow. It wasn't until today that I found out it was the demon king.”

“This isn't good.”

“Why?”

“You could be connected with the demon king.”

The two sat silently for a while.

Snow closed her eyes to sense how her body was doing. From top to bottom, she scanned herself and found out her magic had gotten even stronger. She was surprised that her body was accelerating to accommodate her in this dungeon, especially now that her eyesight was temporarily disabled.

Snow could sense even further than before, creating a mental image of her surroundings. The once darkness in front of her eyes was now completely changed with pulsating life. She could now make outlines of the world around her.

Getting up, she reached around her and found the rock wall. Cold, moist texture welcomed her senses. In some areas, she was able to feel a patch of moss that would brush against her fingertips.

Dairen watched, wondering what she was trying to do.

Snow let go of the moist wall and took a step back. She wobbled like a newborn duckling and caught herself.

This time with a bit more confidence, she took a step and then another. Heading straight toward the mouth of the cave.

“Wait, Snow. You aren’t leaving right now, are you?”

“We need to go.”

“But, you can’t see?!”

“I know.”

“How are you going to fight?”

Snow raised up her hand and stopped him. “I’m not weak, Dairen.”

“I know you aren’t.”

“I can fight. I have my ways.” Snow assured him. “Even if I can’t see, my other senses are compensating me. Let’s go. We don’t have much time to dally any longer. We have wasted too much time.”

With a light step, Snow didn’t look back. Instead, she had only one goal in mind. To find the demon king and kill him.