It had always started the same. Opening my tired eyes only greeted by the same large antique door. Its metal bearings rusted to the wooden surface, hinges coated in thick red-orange rust. Appearing to not have moved over the years. Forever closed within the thick stone bricks that encased it. Reaching outward, I could feel the splintering lumber against my delicate skin. Moving my fingertips down the cracks of the door, everything just felt so familiar to me. Never knowing how or why I felt like this. The only thing that I was positive about was that beyond that door led to a world like no other. A world that made me never want to leave.

Grasping the rusted steel handle, I braced myself against the door. Pressing my small body into the wood so the door would move. Little by little the pressure, I managed to place upon the surface and made it move. Until all it took was one good push for it to swing open fully, revealing a nearly endless stone hallway. Taking a step forward beyond the door I felt it. A faint gentle breeze grazing against my cheek. Lightly billowing my light brown locks in an attempt to coax me forward. Egging me into moving to find out If I was correct. That what I sought after was just at the end of this hall.

So with a deep breath, I pushed onward. Following the stone corridors away from the door. Not once hearing if it had closed behind me or not. Focusing all of my being on moving toward what lies ahead. Looking over each detail within the stone bricks. Listening at all around me up until the only noise that could be heard was the tapping of the heels upon my feet. This simple path marked the way to what I sought the most. It was my guide, as it always had been. Taking Step after step, hearing tap after tap a secondary breeze warned of the halfway point. I was almost to the end.

Taking a slight right where the hall turned and pressed my hand against the cool stone, Looking over at the next step into this end ever. Here was where the second to last entrance sat. A tunnel of ivy that had grown through the cracks in the walls. Replacing the musky scent of stone and mildew with that of fresh grass and living plants. Taking a deep breath I welcomed the scent of it all. My body trying to relax so the smell could flood my senses, filling my body with the sense of freedom that I desperately yearned for. Coaxing me onward with an unspoken promise of freedom and beauty. My steps began to quicken with this sudden burst of excitement that took over. Turning the individual leaves into misshapen blobs of green all around. Not a single stone stood out against the walls of green. All that mattered was reaching the end where a shimmering light would greet me with open arms.

Gazing upon the golden rays should have brought joy, happiness, and any other emotion along with it. Sure, the warmth welcomed me to the land on the other side... but so did a feeling deep inside me. Was it worry? Fear? Feeling my feet came to a steady stop just at the top of the hill overlooking a vast open field covered in stunning crimson flowers. Taking several deep breaths in attempting to calm my racing heart, I felt myself start to smile. Briefly feeling like for once I had no care in the world. Not even caring that I was out of breath or even the fact my heart was ready to explode from the running. None of it mattered. Not when I had found what I had been trying to get to this whole time.

"Lovelace" a soft gentle voice spoke in my head. Speaking calmly and clearly, as if I was meant to know what was lying before me. Resting no more than two feet away from where I stood the waves of crimson descended the hillside. Beautiful blood-red flowers that had resembled roses from a distance. Yet up close they harbored a more unique trait that no rose could hold. Embedded into each delicate petal was a magical embroidery giving the flower a lace-like appearance. Each flower appeared slightly different than the last. Whether it be the thickness of the main links or the amount of detail covering the petals. It didn't matter, this was the only place I knew these flowers to bloom.

Looking over the meadow I started to wonder about a few things. Some of which had been easy to brush off while others flashed about my mind. Lighting up bright red warning signs the more I dwelled on them. Like how quickly I had gotten the door open this time around. Or even how short the jog through the rivers of green had been. Something was changing within this world it seemed. Just I didn't know what it was.

In the end, I ended up thinking 'This had been too quick.' Averting my once excited gaze away from the flowers I scanned the other areas that lie in front of me. To the west, I could make out the river banks that cut into the woods. Then the north where a silhouette of a distant mountain could be made out as darkness started to stain the vibrant blue sky. Darkening quicker and quicker, consuming the baby blue hue faster than average nightfall. Like a bolt of lightning in my mind, it struck me. It wasn't the sky darkening...it was large thick black clouds of smoke that had snuffed out the day.

My eyes widened in shock, following the trail of smoke to its start. There under the train of smoke was where the town to the East had been. Massive red-orange flames rose over the rooftops. Feasting on the dried lumber of the town's creation. Taking away the very foundation of it all, leaving ruin and ash in its destructive fury.

"Oh no…" I managed to breathe. Not knowing how this had even happened. There had been no warnings, no screams of the people. It was all just an eerie silence that had taken shape. Taking a fearful step back I could only watch as everything went from bad to worse. Darkness overtaking the land as quickly as the flames snuffed out the town. Staining the earth beneath each building in a deep ashy grey before moving onto the meadow surrounding it. Everything before my eyes had begun to die. Flames rising and falling whilst it feasted upon the defenseless flowers.

No sooner had the flowers been consumed the ground began to tremble. Effortlessly splitting the land to allow rivers of fire to feast upon the remaining plant life. The crimson flames climbing the hill swiftly and with ease at this point. Burning all in its wake, leaving me face to face with the heat it gave. Moving to step back a mighty roar shook the land then. The hillside shuttering under the force sending me to the ground in seconds. Bracing myself with the palms of my hands I couldn’t do anything to stop this chaos looming over this once peaceful world. Peering upward I could see it, the monster that had caused it all. Flying over the flames was a large-scaled creature moving effortlessly with each mighty flap of its massive leathery wings.

I wanted so much to cry out in fear, to run before I too met a similar fate. But an unknown force just held me there. My body felt stiff and unwilling to move to let me run. The joints locked in constant fear forcing me to suffer watching my happiness go up in flames with the world around me. Taking breath after breath, my lungs feeling to be on fire themselves. ‘Move! You need to move !’ I began to mentally scream seeing the prideful creature part it’s massive jaws. The dark void of its mouth glowing red-orange moments before it fed the blaze below. Expelling its innermost flames to the ground below.

‘Move!’ I heard a secondary voice scream within my head. Pushing through the clouds of fear giving me the strength to get me up off the ground. Then it was as if something overtook me. Looking down at my no longer trembling hands, I felt like I knew how to stop this. A key to this land hidden deep within my being. Reaching out I closed my eyes to focus. Heat licking at my arms crawling over my flesh with ease. Building up energy from within that I’ve never felt before. An inner blanket of strength and love that had been blocked off by a hidden container from within. Opening my eyes I rose my arm out towards the beast, my dark red flames covering it like a sleeve ready to dispel this chaos.

Aiming at the beast, tears welled up in my eyes blurring them momentarily. Long enough however for a single muscular arm to force my arms to my body. Holding my back to their chest, absorbing the flames till I could produce no more. Words unable to form as my head turned to face my captor. Seeing nothing more than a shroud of darkness with a vibrant pair of silvery-blue eyes looking back at me. Feeling him move his free hand up my front, taking hold of my jaw to force me to look at the world I loved. His lips lightly brushing against my ear with each word he spoke out. "It's all your fault, Ivora." no sooner had the words left his mouth my heart shattered. What had I done to cause such havoc onto this world? I only just got there and within minutes it had burned down before my eyes. Tears stung my eyes, the frustration, and truth showing like a beacon within them. A numbness overcoming me at the thought of the end drawing near.

Closing my eyes for the last time A sharp pain ripping through my chest capturing my last breath within my lungs. Weakly opening my eyes, I could faintly make out the handle of a golden dagger sticking out of my chest. Blood staining the hilt from when it had been plunged into me. “I...Have done...nothing.” I gasped letting out my last breath. The man behind me letting go after bidding me farewell. Forcing my dying body to stand on its own wobbling to and frow. “I...I’m not...Iv...Ivora” my lips moved letting go of what life my body had left. Letting it fall towards the flames, hitting rocks on its way down. Before the flames were able to take claim to its new source of nutrition I could hear it. A pain-filled wail from above before it all went dark.

Sitting upright in a panic, my head smacking against the end table at my bedside. Sending waves of pain throughout my skull so I had to lay back down to soothe it. Placing my hand on the newly formed bump I took my first breath. Easing my nerves to start my day, hopefully, right. Opening my eyes I saw the side of my bed, one of my legs pressed up against it with the light blue sheet tangled around my ankle. There was no river of hungry flames desperately wanting to feast upon my fresh flesh. No large beast flying above me destroying everything I held dear. Just a simple bland white-walled room with blue trim. Looking upward at the ceiling like I did every morning it seemed, I waited to feel the footsteps outside my door vibrate the floorboards at my back. Just for the added confirmation that I was alive and like always...it had been a dream; a horrible nightmare that would never end.