Dominance

Chapter 16: A Sprinkling Of Torment

Sara felt a hum throughout her body as something shifted in the air. A constant drizzle of negative emotions channelled and mixed into Sara's head.

Feeling exceedingly heavy, every breath felt exaggerated and full of sorrow. It was a crushing weight on Sara's heart. A metaphorical dark hole that couldn't be crawled out of no matter how she fought. A feeling of sinking further and further down with any struggle to no avail.

The small, but admittedly unusual, dither of Aleron's presence was the only relief from the crushing despair. As Sara clung to it, she could feel a mental push of him trying to resist her desperation to be close to him. Sara resisted straight back, desperately trying to clench on.

"It feels awful in here," Sara's voice came out in a whisper.

"Does it?" Aleron responded. It didn't look like he was feeling the emotional drain that Sara was. He actually looked annoyed. Child Twister on the other hand definitely matched the way Sara was feeling.

He rocked himself hypnotically. His tail between his teeth was muffling the odd sob that hiccuped out of him.

Sara tried her best to piece this experience together, trying to understand what she was seeing, but ultimately had to turn to Aleron for guidance.

"Is this a memory of Twister's?" she asked Aleron directly.

Aleron's shadowy form moved to peer into the cage. Both the little Twister and Aleron stared at each other momentarily in silence. Aleron's blazing amber orbs met Twister's bright azure blue. When Aleron turned back to Sara there was a sneer on his face. He sucked in a breath through gritted teeth and mumbled something Sara couldn't understand, the words spoken in a foreign language.

"A mind doesn't work like that. It's not possible for a Dreamwalker to perceive themselves into a memory alone. And dreams do not play out as precisely as past experiences. Most likely we are in a dream inspired by a combination of memories and emotion."

"So you're a Dreamwalker?" Sara asked Aleron. She didn't exactly know what that was but was going with an uneducated guess.

Aleron's sneer deepened at her question.

"No. It is you that is a Dreamwalker," he answered matter-o-factually.

Sara responded with a blank stare, implying for Aleron to continue with an explanation, which thankfully he did.

"Individuals with extrasensory perception, or psychic abilities, are sometimes able to link their gifts together. In your case, although you appear to have little control or understanding, you have the ability to enter another similarly gifted mind while they are in an unconscious state."

"So you're saying we're in Twister's dream because we are all linked with our minds..."

Sara had a hard time computing that even after she said it.

She looked back to the fatigued and listless child. He had moved, now huddled into a ball with his face pressed against the bottom of his prison, no longer associating Sara or Aleron's presence.

Sara attempted to push her hands through the cold bars as far as she could, only to have tiny Twister recoil further backward into the cage. His reaction felt like a physical slap to her face. Like a strike to her soul.

Sara sunk to her knees. The pressure in this nightmare was so emotionally draining and she was flooded with woe and anguish. Aleron sighed.

"With the exception of you currently dragging me here for a reason I cannot fathom, I don't have any direct connection to your Drachund. That is a very unique and specific bond only between the two of you. I am able to see the connection, of sorts, only because of my capabilities-" Aleron stopped briefly to consider his next words. Or perhaps he was reminiscing. "-as that of a seer."