Wednesday 29 July 2015

Chapter 2 The Nightmare

The Nightmare

The black gorge of her mind is shocked from its catatonia ‘You fell into my trap‘ From the mists of her memory the glowing orbs of those eyes come into view deep in her dream state. ‘ All life must end.‘ A dizzying visage of the clawed winged demon, its hooved feet stepping through the portal from the Abyss, she looks on through her own eyes , feels her body step forward and raise a finger. She speaks but it is not her voice. ‘And now demon.. you Will Die’

The demon falls slain by her magics, but it is not her. The power overwhelms her senses every nerve on fire , like an opiate it exhilarates and numbs her very soul yet she cannot hold onto it. Her body is not hers, her mind is ensnared, she is a chattel of some greater evil. She feels unseen claws pull her soul away from her body. That laugh, she is one with his thoughts, her body will be his new vessel upon the earth. She is dying .

She pushes back. Strange sounds like dripping water. The world spins and she looks down. Her hand claws at her chest, carves away the flesh. Her toes scrabble for the floor as her body levitates off the ground, standing exposed like a raw nerve before the gateway to the Abyss. Voices in tongues twisted and horrendous spill from beyond. She is dying.

There is one last hope. His mind is in hers and she knows his weakness. The crystal heart only has room for one soul, and his is weakened, complacent in his arrogance, she has a chance. Her body contorts with pain, she is dying.

Time eternal like an endless void overwhelms them both. ‘ I am not weak. You are the weak, Skythia is my shepherd, and I am her tyranny against evil and the bringer of death. This is my legacy.’ She pushes once more with all that she is. Feels her flesh tear, her skin flayed, her body scorched. And watches as Zhangs soul is ripped from her and pulled into the Abyss…

Haennah wakes from the nightmare, yet she cannot breathe, standing upright she grasps for the very air to fill her lungs. And with a rasping intake screams out the horror of her mind into the darkness of the room.  The door flies open and there is Norgarth, her head swims and her legs buckle beneath her, she feels herself being caught and then darkness takes her once again.
               
                 *                         *                          *                             *                         *

Strange sounds like dripping water wake her. She hesitates her mind fuzzy, such nightmares were beyond anything she could recall.  Her body felt weak, tired beyond measure as if it had gone through some great ordeal yet she couldn’t remember… wait…
She pushed herself up so she sat, she was in a bed , and on the flying ship. This made no sense… she couldn’t remember. … but wait.  

Slowly she reached up with her hand to her rib cage and froze. She felt a cold hard point and felt  a steady rhythmic pulse from an unmoving surface. The blanket slipped down off her shoulders as she lowered her eyes. Her mouth moved, repeating the same word over and over, but no sound came. Wetness landed upon her hand , one drop. She felt another roll down her cheek, it struck the keen edge of the jagged heart and splashed into tiny drops that scattered rainbow motes of light across the harsh black unforgiving peaks and canyons of the crystal heart.     ‘ no…… no…….. no no nO No NONONONONONOO. ‘


Her sobs racked her weakened body and she slumped back down, drawing her legs up and clutched at her chest. Her mind was overwhelmed with a tidal wave of horror, regret and panic, and it felt it would never end. Finally she sank once more into the oblivion of sleep.

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