《Storm of the Elementals》Interlude - A dream

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I was asleep for the first time in nearly a week, though I don't remember how I got here I know I am definitely asleep.

The reason I know this, is because I am dreaming right now, which is the only explanation for what is happening. I am currently floating in darkness, a void if you will, nothing can be seen for eternity in every direction.

But this isn't just a dream, this is a memory, from before the new world, but after what happened on Earth.

The Inbetween, as unoriginal as it is, from Earth to the new world.

I don't remember, or even truly know, how long I was here, waiting for my new life stuck in the void, but I know it was nearly both an eternity and no time at all. Time doesn't exist as a concept when there is nothing that exists in the first place, The Void is a place outside of everything a mortal like me should experience, if it can even be called a place.

My body isn't a body yet, though I suppose the body I have currently doesn't count as a body either, I am a being forged of magic and mana, and this is where my body was forged.

It is a transparent mess of my memories and ideas, an echo of sanity and reason where reason and reality don't exist, a ghost of a man, a woman, birds, creatures, trees, plants, even dragons and other ideas of anything and everything. My soul projecting something that can be comprehended as a vessel, for if I didn't, my soul wouldn't survive, falling apart under the strain of nothingness.

But eventually, a form takes place, A form I know well, the body I spent over 20 years of my life as on Earth, which flickers between the form I have now, a foreign man with silver hair and sky-blue eyes that looks different from anything I have ever seen before, but a body that my soul latches onto the most, a true form.

Everyone has an idea of what they consider perfect, I guess this is what my true self considers a perfect form.

As my projection solidifies, not much happens as I stare into oblivion.

But, soon, something stares back. Yet, it isn't the void that stares back, but something else.

Everything I am, everything I was, and everything I would be are laid bare before it. It isn't evil nor good, it isn't judgmental neither, but extremely calculative and neutral, pulling me apart with neutral apathy and slight disinterest.

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It takes both an eternity of emptiness and discomfort on the deepest level, but is also so fast I barely notice, as just as suddenly, the presence is gone.

My projection takes shape, the magic of The void, both everything and nothing at the same time, forms my shape, and will, as finally, I can scream.

After I am finished, I shudder as the magic that forms me responds to my will, there is no flesh, no blood, no nerves to limit me and my frantic spasming.

I unconsciously absorb all the magic as I can, becoming solid and full, while I begin falling in a whirlpool as my soul is transported. Being stretched infinitely and somehow similar to the feeling of trying to fit a sandbag through a drain, or like an ant in a hurricane, as my magic and mana, soul and life, is moved through space and time itself, with frightening ease.

I was not the only one to experience this, many went through and got assigned their body, this was where fate and destiny became tangible, influencing all in what they would become and what magic they would behold.

Some would become extraordinary, some would only have twice the magic capability of normal, but all were affected by the transition.

You can't travel through The Void, time, and space itself without being affected, even if a little.

None who made it to the new world would be normal, extreme magic power or affinity with what would be considered rare would be commonplace for those who underwent the experience. But it wasn't only that, for while some would always be more than the rest, while others became different.

Light? Where am I?

I try to move my hand to shield my eyes from the blinding light, vaguely remembering that I was out last night at the pub and got into a fight, again.

Mother is going to be disappointed, fuck, did I have work today?

My thoughts rush to me in a cool river, as a cold shudder runs down my spine, I remember I made it home with a bloody face and being banned from another club, but something isn't right.

I try to stand up, quickly realising that something absolutely isn't right as I find standing up extremely unwieldy and wrong somehow, noticing the grass and small pine trees around me as dread creeps up my spine.

The dread only turns worse and stone-cold as my vision clears, I have a pounding headache, but I power through it, as I examine my body.

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Claws and dark red scales greet my sight, turning me frantic as I begin scanning my body all over.

Dragon is the only thought that comes to mind.

What, what is going on? Am I dreaming? What happened?

Stay calm, work through it, that's what I always do.

The trees surrounding me, aren't small trees at all, looking at my shadow only confirms my worst suspicions as through it I can see menacing horns and spikes jutting dangerously throughout my body. I make a note to check my reflection when I find water just to double-check, as I struggle to move, turning into more of a freaked out spasm on the floor as I, of course, panic.

I have a tail, and wings, and claws. How could this happen?

What is happening to me? How did this happen?

A blue box answers my frightened and rapid-fire questions, making my mind blank temporarily.

God please no, a fucking system?

"Hey! Stay with me man, god, please! Not like this! Wake up, wake up damn it! Just speak to me... please..." I hear as I can do nothing about it.

Shot dead, as the robber gets away with his measly $14.50, showing me the horrible truth of just how much my life is worth here, a nameless clerk in a nameless robbery gone wrong, in a nameless state. I don't remember when my vision went blurry, as my best friends voice has long gone distorted and distant, my attempts at responding have been fruitless as all that comes out is bloody choking, drowning helplessly in my own blood.

I wouldn't be able to afford the medical bills, even if I did live.

There is nothing more I can do, as cold claims me and my thoughts grow distant, hard to grasp, as darkness covers all I see and feel.

Darkness.

Dark.

It's all so dark and cold.

I don't like it here, I am, scared.

I remember being there in the cold and abyssal darkness for what felt like forever, before I suddenly wasn't.

With a start, I wake up in a cold sweat and a shudder as I frantically stand, lose balance, then regain balance as I search my surroundings. The background of cold and slightly damp stone is all I can see from my quick scan as I get distracted with what looks like a spot in my vision.

I died, I really, truly died, so why am I in a cave? Why can I see anyway? I don't see the entrance, just two different ways to get lost and a bunch of ancient stones in agonising detail.

Ignoring the slight blue crystals on the walls, I bring my hand to my face, in both relief and to see what the thing in my vision is, but am stopped when all I see is a skeleton hand. Like a hand from a science lab, not the ones from the museum, as it looks spotless and... clean?

Huh? If I am dead, usually I would think skeletons would be a lot dirtier and graveyard-like, not like they came straight from a science lab.

I admire my hand, trying to figure out how it works, how it is even staying together, and why it looks so white and immaculate. I feel like I should be more freaked out, but I honestly would be more freaked out if I wasn't a skeleton.

So I really did die, huh?

Ha, hahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

The absurdity catches up to me, as I start cackling uncontrollably, which only increases when I hear my frightening and ethereal voice, I could laugh for as long as I want, with no organs to stop me, but eventually, I calm down enough to start assessing my situation.

First I check out the obstruction in my vision, but find it is only my, jaw? Nose?

I touch it in rapt attention, uncaring for how it looks like to the outside as I realise that I can feel somehow, but move past that impossible discovery as I work out the shape of my face.

As it turns out, I have the face, well head, since I don't have a face anymore, of what I think is some sort of sheep or buck skull, with the rest of my body being mostly skeleton, but thankfully not naked, as I am covered in robes that seem impossibly dark.

The robes cover me near completely, leaving only a bit past my feet, my head, and my arms uncovered while being somehow comfortable. Confusing me as I can somehow feel and know it is comfortable, while still being a skeleton.

This is confusing, and only got more confusing as a box appeared before me, which only turned into a wicked grin as I realised what was going on, and that the robber didn't get to kill me in the end.

I may not be alive, but I sure as hell am going to live.

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