Incarno

Chapter 3 Dream

I could see nothing except those blue eyes. Everything was dark. The darkness so thick it seemed to materialise. It's movements so fluid they made it seem alive, engulfing me. Everything. Except those eyes. They seemed to have a shine that wasn't really there, not when you looked at them. But they pierced the darkness so I headed towards them.

Taking my first step I noticed the floor beneath me. A light reflection of my self was visible on the glassy material, shrouded by the darkness. But it didn't look like me somehow. I knew I looked different.
I forgot the thought.
It wasn't smart to think here.
I knew that somehow.
And so I continued walking, without looking down at the reflection. Keeping my mind clear. And walked. And walked. It felt like days. Realising the eyes were much further than they seemed I started running. I focused on the steps. It was all I could do not to think. Suddenly the eyes expanded. Ten times. Then one hundred. Then one thousand. No, the size didn't change, the distance did. All those steps caught up to me.

Surprised I stopped running, slowly approaching the eyes. As I got close enough I started hearing the sound of water falling. A light mist damped my hair. Then I focused on the eyes again.
Ah I thought the eyes are made of water.

The world shook.

The floor under me cracked.

The darkness settled on me like a heavy cloak.

This time I didn't have to try to keep my mind clear. All my instincts were screaming so hard the terror made me forget everything. In the span of a breath peace had settled again, the darkness reluctantly retreating. Slowly I focused on the giant eyes again. Now they engulfed most of my view foreword. I started moving, too scared to stay on the cracked floor any longer.

The closer I got now the louder the sound, the clearer the view. Light reflections started catching my eye making the surface of the eyes appear to have waves. The pupils were more visible too. Before they had looked like holes on the eyes, now I could see they were slightly translucent. A very small amount of light escaping through them too. They entranced me. The world could have been on fire and I wouldn't have noticed anymore.

I headed for the left eye. I was drawn to it. Only a few steps away now. Finally.

I heard a laugh of pure joy. A laugh that would have made me crawl out of my skin were I thinking straight.

"You make the right choice again Hope." That same voice boomed "you always do." A face appeared on the other side of the pupil. The same face I had seen reflected on the floor, but much clearer now. Somehow it was deformed. Not the shape itself but something about it was wrong. The perfection of it disturbed me. But more than anything his presence unsettled me. Every cell on him felt opposite to mine.

I could think again. But something was missing. A core part of me wasn't there.

"Who are you." I asked. My voice sounded rough. An edge to it I didn't know I had given.

"How many times have we done this Hope? How many more times will it take for you to remember? HOW MANY? "He roars, and for a moment that perfection fell apart. His skin falling in patches revealing deep burns underneath, his mouth deforming into something primal, sinister. The lips pulling back into thin bloody lines. Blink. The face was there again, as pristine as ever. Running a tired hand through his red hair he says "I grow tired Drin. I know you do too." He turned his back to me.

How does he know my name?

The floor cracked again but I couldn't stop.

How? How? How? How?

And with that it shattered.

I woke up shouting, drenched in sweat.