The Adventure of Hell's Gate

Chapter 72: Dreams

Cedric, exhausted from the long day, loathed the fact that he had to remove his armor. It would make trying to sleep much easier, but the process was annoying.

He looked over to see his new shield guardian, Arnold standing in a corner, watching him with great interest.

"Do you need rest?" Cedric asked it, narrowing his eyes. He still wasn't sure it was entirely under his command and was slightly afraid of the thing attacking him in the middle of the night. It hadn't done so yet in the days traveling back to Emeria, but he still couldn't shake the feeling.

Arnold blinked twice, then moved to a sitting position, taking the question as a command. The whirring of his gears and the slight smoke escaping from the crevasses in his form seemed to lessen.

"Well, uh, protect me, Arnold. That's a good command, right?" Cedric asked the construct. Arnold just continued to stare. 

He sighed and finished removing his armor. With a heavy thud, he jumped into bed.

"Night," called Cedric.

"Night!" Calypso shouted back through the wall separating her room from his. Arnold alerted slightly at the unexpected noise, but quickly went back to his resting position.

Cedric made himself as comfortable as he could and within a few minutes was snoring quite heavily.

Arnold didn't mind the noise.

                                                                   ***

 Cedric dreamed that night. He dreamed of flying high on his feathered wings, running his hands through the clouds in the sky, the water sticking to his calloused palms. The warm sunlight was a welcome change from the damp coldness in the air. It was relaxing. It was joyous. It was . . . home. Unconsciously, a faint smile stretched across the side of his face. 

But, as the sun descended below the horizon, darkness flooded his vision. The clouds turned black, a drizzle of rain turned into a maelstrom of foul weather and heavy winds.

Rain pelted his eyes, blinding him for precious moments. Lightning flashed right beside him, searing his vision with black dots from the intense light, but no thunder came. Instead, piercing through everything, was a scream of agony and horrible pain.

It seemed to strike him as a physical blow, stunning him in the air. His wings molted, turning back into the horrid bony protrusions they had recently become.

He fell.

He fell hundreds of feet, thousands, the air whipping past his face and rain crashing into him with such force he hardly knew which direction was which.

The nightmare ended abruptly as Cedric fell onto the wooden floor with a heavy thud. A single cold stone of fear fell into his gut as he recognized the scream.

"Lorelei."

Without a second thought, he bolted out of his room.