The Seasons Gloom

I get invited to a death party

It was hard to sleep with the thoughts of death and peril in your mind. I had dreams, of course. I envy you mortals, not having to deal with the constant nightmares and weird dreams. So what, you dreamt you were in the future and your house gets abducted by aliens? Well you never have dreams of the destruction of the world itself and your friends and family dying. And if you do, well, you might want to see a psychiatrist.

The dreams I had tonight were, of course, very odd.

I was in a large field of wheat, just endlessly spreading across a meadow with mountains vaguely in the distance.

I tried to move along as best as I could but the wheat was up to my waist, making it harder to navigate.

Suddenly there was a flash of light and a woman stood before me. I suspected she was a goddess, as she appeared in a flash of sparkles. She was an incredibly beautiful young goddess with a tender expression. Her eyes were sky blue and her hair was blond.

She looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it.

She looked over at me and smiled. "Nooren Sarara," she said sweetly.

"Um, I actually go by Ren." I looked at her skeptically. She seemed nice, but I've dealt with enough monsters and goddesses to know to keep your guard up.

She scanned her eyes over me and although I seemed unimpressive in my pajamas she nodded her head and said. "Yes. yes, you will do."

"Uh, excuse me?"

"You have until the Kalends of Maia. If you do not succeed by then, our enemy will become stronger." she said, her mouth curving into a frown.

I gave her a puzzled expression. "Look lady, I have no idea what your talking about-"

The goddess laughed, her voice sounded like a musical instrument. "All will come full circle, Ren, centurion of the fourth cohort. I will be keeping an eye on you."

And with that she dissolved in a puff of pollen.

"Great," I mumbled to myself. "Now I got a goddess looking after me. I'm so honored."

The ground rumbled as the wheat close to me shriveled into dust, the ground cracked beneath my feet and I fell with a scream into a big black abyss.

I opened my eyes to see I was almost in complete darkness, small flickering candles lining a walkway.

A woman who looked similar to the one in my previous dream, but with a dark dress and a large crown made of thorns on her head, paced the floor in front of an older looking man. He had a long beard and wore flowy black robes and as the fabric moved I thought I saw ghoulish faces in them.

The man rubbed his forehead and sighed, clearly agitated.

"What do you expect me to do?" he said, his voice oily. He was talking to the woman, so I assumed they couldn't tell I was there.

"At least make an effort." She shot back.

"I have been a little busy-" his face clenched and his image flashed to a man in a regal blue suit, but the suit was torn and stained with golden ichor, his blue-grey hair messy.

His appearance returned to normal and he heaved a sigh of pain. "I am healthier than my brothers and sisters since I am in my home but they are. . . not so lucky."

The woman turned to the man, her eyes blazing with fury.

"She has been missing for days and yet you sit on your throne complaining about how your head hurts."