After last week's distractions, my nights were destined to give me more grief than ever. Everything that I felt about the sky and the cold kept flooding through me every time the temperature outdoors would drop. And even though we had that heat wave days ago, the winter was finally bursting through the floodgates of the season's alteration.

My mental obsession remained as powerful as ever. But one thing had changed from before. I felt an overwhelming sensation of happiness and belonging when I was out in the cold. But this time, I only felt cautious from the fear haunting me inside. I never could forget that scary dream I had before, of that woman I have been referring to lately as shadow face. A fitting name since some kind of noise-based energy field conceals her whole identity, of the upper half of her body at least.

Having one lucid dream was bad enough, but having more than one was something I should have considered impossible. But I had a hunch ever since the first time that it might happen again. So, when I pushed myself off the cold snow-covered wasteland, waking up on this foreign world for the second time, I wasn't nearly as surprised as I was before. Once again, after going to bed last night, I woke up very quickly to a place I have been to before in my dreams.

Still, I cursed my luck for ending up here again. Surprised or not, this situation was still seriously dangerous. I never did find out who that woman was from the first lucid dream or why she attacked me. And when I try to think back, I still don't know if I woke up because of the fear that I was about to die, or the fact that I did die. If I was killed, then I should have nothing to worry about anymore, as death in a lucid dream is meaningless, if not painful. But since I don't know which of the two shocked me back awake, I considered that the possibility of dying in real life from within a lucid dream to be higher than a zero percent chance, a chance I wasn't willing to bet on.

So, while I found my balance again getting used to the sheer cold of this world, amazed that such a vast place could exist without any melting snow, I considered both the good news and the bad news. The bad news was something of a certainty, even though I had no proof it was going to happen again. I knew she would show herself again. This place, this vast open space isn't entirely random. It's a fully open environment with no forest or frozen lake in sight. Such is also a tactical advantage against me to be ambushed by that killer. Once she shows herself, I'll probably be given another sword for another duel.

I squished both my hands shut and open in repetition in front of me, still totally amazed by how realistic this was. I wasn't sure if the insane detail level of this dream was from something else, or because I was fully conscious enough to experience it in the first place. I remembered how much I was able to sense in this very moment, the snow against my skin and the cold chilling my body from the air. But I shivered at the thought, not from the cold, but from imagining how powerful it may feel to experience real pain in here as well. Since I am a middle school kid with no abilities and no fighting skills, there is no way I would be able to defeat a mysterious warrior.

The only good news right now is that I had some time before she would show up... I don't have a good reason to assume that. I'm only basing that off of the last time I was here. How long was I waiting before I heard the first noise? Ten minutes? Five? I still have some time to think about this. If I can't fight, maybe I can run. The idea was still a daunting one. Everywhere I looked was an endless zone of ice and snow. Even if I got a head start, there would be nowhere for me to hide. If I buried myself into the snow to hide, I would probably freeze to death a lot faster. If all else fails, maybe I can talk the warrior out of killing me somehow, agree to do whatever she asked no matter what it was.

"It's better to fight me than to evade me."

Hearing a powerful voice behind me that also somehow echoed into my head, I jerked into a full turn, arms out ready to block what I believed was already a surprise attack. But despite my projection, I was really too scared to move beyond this much. And sure enough, there she stood again. How did she find me? It hasn't even been five minutes!

"Warriors of ice fight to the death if we must. You are the target for everything I have set into motion Reed. Now you will face my fighting skills once more."

Wincing quietly away at her hostility, I could feel myself shaking, tightening my teeth at my cursed luck. Looks like she still want's a fight. She also seems to remember our last encounter, which is suspicious as hell, because I sure didn't spawn a crazy lady here to come and kill me. With all of my options exhausted, I put my last resort into action first. "Heh – about that... Yeah, I'm not actually a warrior of ice, or whatever this is supposed to be about." I slowly backed away as gently and slowly as I could, talking halfway with my arms as if it would somehow distract her. But she was also slowly walking closer towards me, as if to counter my own head start on escaping. "Let's say you don't slay me, and we find something else to try instead." Even though she and I were at least talking instead of fighting, it was really hard for me to focus with that creepy dynamically active shadow of static all over her face.

"Forfeiture is not an option for me. When we warriors take up arms, we must not put them down in front of the enemy. But even though you are not my enemy, I am required to show you my valiant sword skills. If you mess up and fail to defend yourself, there is nothing I can do about it."

Crap! She's psycho! I didn't think of that! Deep breaths now... There must be something I can do in order to survive this. But before I could think of anything, the tall woman slide a steel sword through the snow, ensuring it reaches the distance to reach me. Though she did not throw it through the air like before, I still considered it dangerous as it could cut into my feet, dodging it so. I didn't want to pick up that sword and indulge her, but shadow face was drawing her sword regardless, the frozen sword of ice, or whatever the material is made of. So, I picked up the blade anyway, even though I knew it would be useless.

"Now, target of destiny, feel our wrath and know how we treat those who mess with us." Despite making it sound like her attack was imminent, the lady shifted her feet calmly, turning her body to the side to reveal her left arm. However, the energy shadow was covering the entire top portion of her body, including both of her shoulders.

"I swear, I never messed with you! Please don't kill me!" I pleaded coming close to having tears in my eyes. Even if I can't die in here, I certainly didn't want to experience the feeling of being stabbed. I wanted to ask someone why I was having such a terrible experience in the first place. Why was I having a lucid nightmare? Why was this person attacking me each time I came here? And why is my mind still so focused and captivated by the visual experience of all this ice and snow, addicted to its grace despite the danger? I wanted to know, but the woman before me revealed a different secret instead.

As if to demonstrate minor control over that energy shadow obscuring her face with pure darkness, the unidentified woman triggered something that lifted the shadow from her arms upwards in a very slow but certain wiping animation. The shadow lifted as if it were degrading from the bottom up, but once it got to her neck, the degradation ceased yet again. In total, all this did was reveal slightly more of her own body, which was the same as she revealed to me the last time. More of her long brown hair was visible, and her shoulders were now completely visible with the energy shadow no longer covering them. She really was wearing something similar to a metallic space suit. It wasn't the kind of suit that seemed hard to move in, her body agile and fit.

But it wasn't merely her shoulders that the woman was trying to reveal to me. It was the icon on her shoulders that held such importance. The same mark rested on the top of her right hand in a much smaller scaled down size, but I would never have noticed it without getting too close to her in the first place.

I did wonder why she was showing her shoulder to me after disabling part of that concealing shadow shield. But my far-sided vision kicked in, displaying the marking before me. It only took about two seconds before I nearly chocked on my own surprise. My memories instantly began to surge upon seeing that symbol again. I know that marking. It isn't just some random triangle tattooed onto her skin...

Of course! How could I be so stupid? Warrior of ice? A thirst for vengeance? And this place, this absolute freezing zone that looked like it didn't belong on this planet? It all led back to their story. It really is one of them in the flesh! She's an Altiri. Just by saying that in my head, my thoughts were bombarded by all of the other memories I had from other non-lucid dreams about the Altiri and their race. They aren't human, that much I remember. They also have another name, a name they use in other circumstances, but I don't remember it well enough. Either of the monikers means the same thing. She really is an Altiri warrior. That's really bad news for me.

"You seem to be getting a fraction of your memory back. You should have known without the mark of the Altiri what I was. But you forgot, didn't you?"

How does she know that? I keep hearing her voice echo in my head, but how did she know what I was thinking? Hold up a second. How did I know any of this? I remembered some of the dreams from my past, but why are those details coming into play now? How could I know any of this?

"You fool!" she hollered in anger. "How can you not?!" Giving me no more time to analyze my situation, the woman lunged at her target, kicking her feet off the ground and accelerating her jump into the air forward to a speed of 65 miles per hour, once again defying physics. Just like that, the force of her momentum from the powerful kick off from the ground not only displaced so much snow, but it brought her directly to my position, as I was totally defenseless. But she didn't give me any second chances at this. With full preparation to take responsibility, the warrior slashed her frozen saber sideways, cutting me in half.

I tried to do something, but the woman was a lot faster than I could have possibly reacted. I thought I felt a sharp and burning force through my entire stomach, but as soon as I did, I jumped upwards from a different position, confusing me outright and making me nauseous again. I was standing just now, but suddenly I found myself in a whole different environment, sitting in an upright position as my heart pounded away through my chest soon to give out...

It was darker in here, but this was my own bedroom without a doubt. I couldn't calm my breathing even a little. I really thought that I died just then. I don't remember being cut by her, but I'm sure that I was anyway. Right at that moment, everything just froze, including my own brain. So I have no idea if she managed to kill me, or if I woke myself up out of pure adrenaline and fear yet again. I didn't want to find out anymore.

I had to wait a while before I managed to fully recover from that horrifying experience. Even though I was more than an hour early waking back up for school, I refused the very thought of returning to sleep. I don't ever want to do that again. A dream can be fun when one goes lucid, but what happens if it's a nightmare instead?

No matter what I tried, I couldn't stop thinking about what just happened. It wasn't just the near death experience that tugged at my attention, there were other new details as well. I learned of her indirect identity. Even without a name or a face, I know that she is an Altiri. A warrior like that who doesn't care about my wellbeing might as well be one of the most dangerous beings in the universe. Someone like that really could be a problem. I know it was just a dream, but something about that experience felt too realistic, not just the detail. I'm starting to think that it isn't just a dream anymore...

The hair on my skin stood up in response to my next wild theory, and I wasn't too proud of telling myself this either, but it had to be said. What if the Altiri are all real? What if those aliens actually do exist somewhere in the universe? Are they coming here to Earth? Are they coming here to kill us all?

Of course I tried to convince myself that our human lives just aren't that interesting, but the seeds of doubt were already rooting around in my brain. The same way I had a mental affinity to the thought of the stars, and the same way I had a mental affinity to the cold weather around me, I was now just as certain that the Altiri do really exist somewhere. I don't know why or how I know about them, but I do. Even if I can't prove it, the thought of it freaked me out too much for me to feel at ease anymore. I could still feel myself shaking, thanks to this new fear growing within me.

When all of this excitement over the stars and winter started, I recalled feeling bliss and pure joy, along with a full addiction to the concept itself. The mental obsessions are still there, but I'm not going to be fooled by them anymore. The Altiri, or whoever are out there are not fun, friendly, or awesome creatures; they're a danger to us all! The sight of the stars now only brings me fear. The cold around me reminds me of something I should not have. If this keeps up, I'll come undone in no time.

Since all of this was making me breathe so fast I could come close to hyperventilating, I tried taking deeper longer breaths, reminding myself that I still have no proof that such a scenario would really exist. Even if it is possible, it isn't likely. So I shouldn't worry about it anymore. All I have to do is go to school, make new friends, and try to be normal again. That's all I want to do at this point, go back to normal. No more crazy dreams. No more weird drawings of symbols that make no sense. No more gazing up at the sky like a ding bat. I just want to go back to the way things used to be. All I have to do is try.