Blade West: Book 1

Chapter 1: Xeno

A chilly gust of air entered the room and kindled my consciousness to life...the sudden temperature drop sent chills down my body and I reflexively bundled up underneath my sheets. Earlier in the evening, I had my window up to let air into my room, but now that the night temperatures had set in, it was much too chilly to have it open.

I had only opened it up because my mother had turned the heat on in the middle of August. I complained through the door that it wasn't cold, but she barked back that she was cold so I made the only adjustments I could: close the vents, open the window, throw the bed comforter in the closet. In that exact order too.

I remember that after I had made those adjustments, I started to work on some homework but that was the last thing I remembered. I guess I had dozed off at some point, but there was a couple of things that didn't make sense to me.

First, why was I under the sheets and not above them like I was when I was doing homework?

Second, why was my homework on the dresser? When I was working on it, papers were everywhere, pens, highlighters, and the like were spread across my bed, but suddenly all of that was on the dresser, and neatly organized at that.

Third, all of the lights were off in my room. They were definitely on when I was working on my homework.

The only assumption I had was that my mom had probably come in, moved my papers out of the way, forced me underneath the covers, and turned off all of the lights. Probably the most likely scenario.

But now, I checked my phone and it was around 2am. I was still tired physically and mentally, but I couldn't keep my mind from pacing. I pulled up YouTube on my phone and searched "Peaceful Flute and Piano Meditation" and clicked on the first video that popped up. I've always loved the flute and piano combination - something about it has always brought me into another world.

I stared hazily out of the window into the night sky. The sky was a beautiful mixture of a calm violet and silent ultramarine blue. Cumulus clouds rolled patiently across the sky, gliding on the gentle breeze that traveled peacefully across the land. A full moon smiled brightly in the sky, sending light in every direction. The stars were accessorized the sky, almost like glitter on a young girl's face or like diamond dust suspended in the air. This scene was overwhelmingly serene, and before long, I had drifted off to sleep again.

Remember how I said that the flute and piano combination always brought me into another world?

Well.

I was in another world.

First and foremost, I never dream. I'm usually too busy or too exhausted to dream. Sleep is almost like closing my eyes to nighttime and opening them up again a few seconds later to a bright sun entering the room. Dreams don't happen for me.

But for whatever reason. It happened tonight.

In this dream...I was on a very dusty and barren hill. When I looked around, I appeared to be at the top of a desert valley. The hot dirt stretched for miles and deep crevices surrounded me. Large dust clouds hung low in the air and the sky was darkened. It appeared to be daytime because everything was illuminated but no rays of sun pierced those dust clouds; this area was barren. Vegetation was nonexistent here.

But something caught my attention.

A few feet away from me lay someone in a clad of brilliant white and blue armor. The white was so brilliant that the armor stood in high contrast with the dirt around it...and the growing puddle of blood.

This...soldier (?), had an insignia on their left shoulder that I seemed familiar with, but couldn't really explain why. It just felt like...home. It was a symbol that meant something to my "dream self" even though I didn't understand it. Looking at that insignia helped me notice that this person had their left hand on their abdomen and blood was rapidly escaping between their fingers.