Celestia Academy

83. Dream Come True

I was dreaming.

At least, I really hoped I was dreaming.

White, dense fog surrounded the trees of the forest that I was currently running in. I ran fast enough to be considered a sprint—my haste fueled by the motivation to escape from the dark shadows that corrupted the blurry space behind me.

I wasn't sure how long I had been running like this. There didn't seem to be an end in sight. My body showed no signs of exhaustion, though. My heart pounded from fear—not the cardio workout. That didn't make the situation any better.

Since I knew I was dreaming, shouldn't I be able to wake myself up? My surroundings didn't change no matter how much mental energy I poured into dissolving the mystifying fog or blasting away the persistent shadows. I bit my tongue on accident after tripping over a pile of rocks, but the pain from that didn't snap me out of this nightmare.

Yes. Nightmare. Not a dream.

Was this a typical nightmare, or did Enjou have a hand in it?

I didn't allow the shadows to get close enough for me to find out. An infinite marathon sounded far more appealing than a lifetime of imprisonment. The shadows pursuing me showed no signs of slowing down. We both had plenty of stamina to spare.

Leaves rustled and twigs snapped under my feet as I propelled forward. This was definitely a forest. I could make out tall shadows of the trees that faintly peeked through the mist, and shrubbery materialized once I got close enough to trample over them. If this was real terrain, then there must be a way for me to get a high ground.

Could the shadows climb? Probably.

With all of this wood, I might be able to set a fire and scare them away.

Sweat trickled down my face as I leaped over a tree stump. It was mossy and slick with the heavy fog. No dry wood. No fire.

There was a small chance that letting the shadows wrap around me was the key to waking up, but just as anything was possible in a dream, real life had its own share of surprises. What if the Abyss Order found a crack in my mental shield, and this was a direct invasion into my mind? What if I woke up in an Abyssal dungeon as a result of giving up?

My foot slipped where the soil had gone soft and muddy. A twinge of pain registered when my ankle rolled, but I refused to fall over. The ground squished under my feet, and I focused on what was ahead of me to avoid the shadows behind.

With each mucky step, the fog began to lift. Unfortunately, the case was not the same for the pursuing shadows. I focused on the good fortune of being able to see more—that is—until I was able to see what I was approaching.

A river.

That explained why the ground had become soggier.

I had no choice but to slow to a stop, and my gut sank along with my feet in the mud. From what I could tell, the river extended a great length to my left and right with no end in sight.

Crossing was my only option. There was no telling how deep the water went, but I had no other choice. The shadows were going to get to me at this rate. Hesitation was a luxury, one that I couldn't afford for much longer. Squaring my shoulders, I inhaled deeply and held my breath—diving straight into the frigid water.

The river was dark. So dark, that I almost thought the shadows had gotten to me after all.

Even though swimming wasn't something I practiced often, my body remembered the movements. This being a nightmare was no excuse to let the water flood my lungs. I couldn't tell which way was which—up or down, left or right—but I kicked my legs as hard as possible. The water felt heavy like honey as my arms dragged forward.