Fractured Crown (Book 1: Terra)

Chapter 16

Raena was in the woods, next to the tree where she had first been introduced to the draugr. No breeze blew past, no animal sounded, and yet... she was not alone. She could feel its eyes burning through her before she even spotted it, shrouded in bushes, not a few metres ahead.

Muscle memory told her to reach for her quiver of arrows, and her heart skipped a beat when she realised she had no weaponry on her. A coldness gripped her body as the draugr stepped out from its hiding place, growing alarmingly larger. She again heard the nauseating sound of bone cracking as it increased to the size of a bull, its blue eyes wide yet glaring, ready to charge towards her.

Raena bolted, not allowing herself time to think. All she knew was her feet and the familiar crunch of dried leaves beneath her, olive-green cloak whipping behind her as she willed herself to run, as quickly and as further away from that monster as possible. But the draugr was fast and large, and what ground she would gain in minutes, he would cover in seconds. She looked at the surrounding trees, all of them far too tall and smooth for her to climb up. Then she spotted it. A burrow some animal must have dug out, next to the thornbush that – if she wasn't mistaken – was the same thornbush she had fallen into.

It's a dream, she suddenly remembered. This is my dream.

She turned to face the draugr, ignoring the voice in her head that screamed at her to continue running. She stood her ground, and the draugr stopped but a mere metre in front of her, the stench of decay hanging from the strands of rotten meat that seemed ready to fall off its skeletal body at any moment.

The creature's lips parted into a wide grin, baring its teeth at her.

Raena, it hissed silently, mouth unmoving. There's nowhere to run. Nothing you can do, Raena.

"What do you want from me?" Raena demanded, keeping her chin held high, though she already knew the answer, and she trembled at the thought.

Stupid, stupid girl. Strutting around as if you own the Tenebris Forest, own the darkness that dwells within.

"I'm not afraid of you," Raena said, but her eyes locked with the draugr's, and the whispering suddenly increased in volume, surrounding her, filling her head, her mind, giving her no room to think, to breathe.

She sucked in deeply, reassuring herself that her lungs were working, that she was breathing in oxygen. She wasn't dying. It was all in her head.

The whispering continued. Oh, Raena, it taunted. You should be afraid. You should be very, very afraid.

Raena shut her eyes, steadying her breathing, an image of Grandpa Sage's tired face flashing in her mind. She was doing this for him. She couldn't let him down. If she failed, then he'd never let her face it alone again. She didn't want to consider the fact that, if she failed to kill it, it probably meant her death.

"This is my dream," she gritted. "Mine."

She held out her palms, outstretched, and directed her mind to imagine her bow and arrow, right there in her hands. This was her dream. If she was could summon the willpower to lucid dream, then she might just be able to control the outcome. She was in control, she reminded herself. Not the draugr.

The creature, appearing to sense a shift in power, growled before letting out a manic scream. Startled, Raena opened her eyes, and for the briefest moment, she saw it. Her salvation throughout all these lonesome years and the weapon that might just be what saved her now. Then she lost focus, and the bow was gone, vanished into thin air.

She cursed under her breath but didn't lose hope. She had seen it. Which meant it was possible. She was in charge of her dreams. She took another deep breath, focusing all her energy into willing the bow into her hands as the creature took one step, two steps towards her.