Whispers: The Veiled Realms

Chapter Two

When I woke up, it was a stream of light hitting my eyes, the sound of chirping birds echoed above me. A gentle warm breeze brushed against my face and loose hair tickled my cheek. I blinked open my eyes, blurry at first, blinking them till my vision cleared and I could see the sky above through the branches and leaves of a tree above me.

Slowly I sat up, groggy and confused. Yawning I stretched my arms above my head, my body feeling stiff as I moved to stand up slowly, looking around at the sights around me.

Behind me, was a large oak tree. Its branches stretched out far and its roots peeked out from the ground below when I looked down. Birds chirped in the branches above causing me to glance up, watching as they jumped from branch to branch, chasing each other. I couldn't help but smile and watch as they flew away a few moments later, turning to watch them fly into the bright blue sky.

I looked away to see what else I could see, I stood under the branches of a large oak tree that sat upon a grassy knoll, below I could see the buildings of a small village. I paused for a moment, a memory coming to my mind as I quickly raised my arm, pushing back the white sleeve of the gown I was wearing, searching my arm, turning it this way and that till I found what I was looking for.

There on my arm, starting from my wrist and going up my arm, was a scar. A soft white scar that wrapped around my arm like a twisting vine. It was uneven and rough to the touch but blended in easily with my pale skin. I knew the scar would go all the way up to my shoulder and down towards my heart. A scar I knew was from having the rare luck of being too close to an object that was struck by lightning.

I knew where I was suddenly, I knew who I was. I wasn't me, well I was but I also wasn't. This is a dream for me, a me that had a different life, a different name, a different look. This me lived a whole other life while I slept, and when I was awake I was my normal self. Not that this made any sense, I just thought this was what people dreamt of, living other lives only when I slept.

I looked around a little more, turning to look behind me, where a strangely familiar horizon was seen. The rolling hills of green grass seemed to stretch on for miles, dotted with trees and other foliage, as it was nestled into the center of a large mountain range. The village below, my dream home, was also in one of the many valleys located in this mountain. Why people settled into these mountains was never known to me, I never really did try to figure out why, I just thought it was a dream and went along with it every time I "woke" up here.

Glancing at the horizon as the sun was shifting to slowly set, I realized why it suddenly looked familiar. It was the same hill I saw in the doorway of the portal all those people returned from. Sudden fear and hope grasped me with the anxiety of the memories of what had happened before I woke up here. This world was the world on the other side of the portal! It had to be! That also meant.

"He is here!!" I gasped at the thought, I could go and find my husband, he was somewhere in this world! I could save him!

Before I was fully aware of it, I was running, running in the direction of the setting sun, down the slope of the hill the tree sat on, in the opposite direction of the valley I should have gone back to instead. It wasn't until a few minutes of running later did I came to a stop, gasping for breath.

I had no idea where I was going, or even if this world was that world. This was a dream, this wasn't real, maybe my mind was trying to trick me. There was no possible way that he was here, in my dream world. Not at all. I sighed and pushed back the midnight-black hair from my face. It had come loose from the bonnet it was in earlier while I was sleeping and flew loose when I started running. Turning around I began to head back towards the village, my home I knew would be there. Removing the loose cloth of the bonnet and letting my hair fall loosely down my back and around my shoulders. The curls bounced as I walked, tucking the bonnet into one of the pockets of the apron I wore over a long skirt.