A Deserted Place

I was glad to open my eyes again.

I was lying face down on a wide, dirt path. I spat out the dirt in my mouth and turned my head to the right before setting my face down on the ground again. Before me was a rolling expanse of gently sloping hills stretching out as far as my eyes could see. There was a sereneness to the sight that nearly brought tears to my eyes.

Well, that sucked, I thought.

I lifted my chin and turned my head to the left. There, too, I saw the same, vast fields sprawling out for miles and miles, void of anything that wasn’t vibrant green. But on this side, I noticed a sliver of blue at the very tip of the plains, an ocean in the distance that met the sky at an unbroken horizon.

I noticed that some of the sharp, splitting pain of having my skull split by a zweihander moments before was still there. Thankfully, the pain was quickly fading away like butter on a hot pan. My heart easy and my body felt loose and relaxed. My ever-present anxiety about Priscilla's safety was notably absent, replaced by a deep conviction that she was going to be okay.

That’s odd, I thought, not able to remember a time when her well-being was not on my mind since I had become her cheon-sa.

But it was a welcome change.

She's strong, I told myself. She can handle herself.

I rolled onto my back and gazed up into the cloudless sky. The noonday sun shone in all its bright, unbridled brilliance. It was a cool sun, just warm enough to keep the breeze from being chilly. I closed my eyes, focusing solely on the rising and falling of my own breath. It calmed me even more, allowing my troubled mind to relax.

Every sensation felt heightened here in this quiet, vibrant realm. The frigid air was clean and nourishing. The sunlight was warm and life-giving. The wind, soft and velvety, caressed my skin like a gentle kiss. In the distance, the soft crashing of waves whispered in my ear promises of a world without trouble.

I was pretty sure by now I died back down in the observatory, there was no other explanation for me to be here. Yet now that the worst was over, I wasn’t too mad about the fact that I had died because of my magic had failed inexplicably. Iris was likely to blame, but I would know for sure until I spoke to her again. I thought about calling out to her, but I figured she would come to find me sooner or later.

After about a minute of lying peacefully on the still dirt path, I climbed up to my feet to explore the unfamiliar paradise around me. I started walking down the path toward the ocean at a leisurely pace. It wasn’t long before the path brought me to a steep cliff overlooking the ocean. The waves were much louder now through I was certain I had only been walking for a few minutes. I walked over to the right side of the cliff. Beneath me, about fifty feet away, the cold blue waves crashed steadily against the black rocks of the cliff I stood upon. As I watched the waves, they reminded me of a distant shore, one full of strife and terror. There was an ocean filled with giant, pillar-like teeth and a huge, gaping maw that consumed all that fell into it.

Was that what the ocean back at the observatory looked like?

I wasn’t certain.

I hastily stepped back onto the dirt path. The sun was now hovered over the horizon, illuminating it with a musky golden hue. Dark rain clouds closed in on my location. The wind picked up to a steady gale and for the first time, I noticed the holes in the blue hunter’s coat I wore. I pressed on down path I had set out upon, determined to see it to the end.

Whatever peace I had felt about her safety melted away. Urgency filled my heart as I knew I had to return to her immediately. She was fighting something, I was certain of it, but I could not remember what. How long had I been here enjoying the scenery while she was fighting for her life?

I quickened my pace.

History was repeating itself.

I reasoned that because she was a Seraph, Priscilla wouldn’t be in too much trouble without me.

Yet I felt I had already reasoned myself into inaction once before to her detriment.

When I reached the midpoint of the path, only about halfway up the cliff, a dark doorway suddenly came into sight.

I froze in my tracks.

There was no frame surrounding it and no door attached to it. It was a rectangular window of nothingness cut into the very fabric of the dream. It reminded me of the obsidian-like portal Iris had opened for me not too long ago. But while the former had only made me feel uneasy, a deep terror filled me as I gazed into the gaping maw of the anomaly before me. Despite my reservations, I kept walking toward the door, drawn by something that lay within.

When the door was only an arm’s length away, I dug my heels into the ground and forced myself to not take another step. Every fiber of my body warned me that nothing good lay beyond. Yet the very same fibers also urged me to not be afraid.

I reached out to touch the surface of the portal just to see what would happen. But as my right hand hovered over its inky surface, I pulled my hand away, stuffed it back into my coat pocket, and took several hasty steps away from the door.

I remembered that those who died in the dream had a chance of being revived as a mindless monster. What if those who became monsters were the ones who foolishly walked through the dark door without thinking about the consequences? Then it struck me that the opposite could also have been true, that those who became monsters were the ones who refused to walk through the door to return to the grim world they had left behind.

I beheld the beautiful, darkening world around me. Who would be foolish enough to leave this behind for a reality filled with monsters, death, and uncertainty? The injury on my forehead suddenly flared with pain, and the memory of last moments flashed across my mind in an instant.

I had died in the dream.

The pain was unbearable, if only for a moment, but it was unmistakable.

A voice whispered in my ear that if I returned to the nightmare, I would have to live with that very pain for the rest of my life.

Stay.

I looked back at the doorway I had fled from. It stared back, soulless and unfeeling.

Wait.

Yet it was only by entering the dark doorway that I would be able to fulfill my oath as a cheon-sa.

I marched back to the portal until I was staring directly into it. I could feel the void reaching deep into my mind, threatening to erase whatever memories I had left.

You’re making a mistake.

“No, I’m not,” I said loudly for the voice to hear.

I took one last look at the deserted abode around me. I reasoned I would probably return sooner rather than later thanks to how dangerous the dream was. Then I would explore the place further to see what other mysteries it held.

I braced myself as I stepped back into the void.

But the moment I raised my hand to the door, I felt the entire right side of my body freeze up. Soon after, my left side was immobilized as well. I stood there, unable to move an inch. I was still able to breathe, thankfully, but they were short and shallow breaths because my chest refused to expand every time inhaled.

What's going on? I thought.

At that very moment, a pale hand reached out from within the depths of the door, reaching for my face. I couldn't scream, nor could I run away. But just before the hand reached me, another hand grabbed ahold of it, locking it in place. After a brief struggle, both hands disappeared back into the portal.

My heartbeat skyrocketed, bewildered by what I had just witnessed.

I frantically channeled my magic, trying my best to unfreeze myself, but despite my best efforts, I was still frozen in place.

I watched the door intently, afraid that the pale hand would return at any moment without warning.

After an eternity of trying to unsuccessfully free myself, a pair of shadowy figures emerged from the dark door.

The first was Iris. I could tell by the golden wings flanking her sides like twin guardians. She was still wearing the linen dress from our first encounter. Her trusty wooden staff and its ceramic pitcher were carried in her right hand.

The other was a tall, grizzled man dressed in a blue Hawaiian shirt with pink flowers. His skin was as pale as snow. He wore light khaki shorts, a pair of leather sandals, and a pair of wire-rimmed glasses.

Neither of our two guests looked happy, but I noticed that neither of them looking at me. It was as if I wasn’t even there.

“You better have a good reason for interfering with my duties as Warden,” the man said. “I’ve got a dreamer to purge.”

He was pointing directly at me.

“Apollo attacked my servant,” Iris replied hotly. “It’s only fair I give the boy some assistance.”

“True," the man replied. "But a second life is more than mere assistance. It is breaking the rules Hilda set in place. And you know how I feel about rulebreakers.”

“The rules state that every dreamer must know their curse before they can be penalized for it. We both know he hasn’t seen his curse card yet.”

The man turned his head to look at me. He gave me a joyless smile. It was the smile of a man who no longer felt shame when he took a life. I wanted to punch him in the face, but alas, my body was frozen, held in place by some strange magic.

"I'll consider it," he said, his smile only growing wider. “But it's going to cost you a Divine Favor."