The Battle of the Elements

☾hapter 1-Shay

       Daniel had decent accuracy when it came to shooting; I'd give him that, but how do you shoot something that doesn't have a solid form? The answer is: you can't.

         I stand placed  in a dark place with grey skies and an endless forest filled with huge, towering trees composed of  dead roots and weak bark. Everything looks so empty and lifeless. I am draped in blue for some unknown reason, with a circle of woven wood situated on my head as I run barefoot through the dead forest with Daniel leading the path - who is nearly impossible to keep up with. He leaps over roots with ease and agility, while still maintaining a quick and unwavering pace. Even while adjusting his bow and quiver  - that rest on his shoulder  -numerous times, his speed doesn't manage to falter.

        I look behind me and strands of my leaf woven hair whip my face as I gaze upon the most threatening being ever brought into creation. It was a man that grinned at me maliciously. He was hot; made of pure fire. He left flakes of flames in his wake and behind him was a raging forest fire that swallowed up what was left of the destruction he had prompted.

        My attention directs back to the elf I am trying desperately to keep up with. I scan ahead of me for Daniel and that's when I realize he has vanished. "Daniel!" I call out. I frantically scan my surroundings for any signs of him or where he might have gone. He's nowhere to be found. All I see is a burning forest and falling ashes. To make matters worst, I find myself glued to my spot, unable to move. The fire is now tumbling full speed ahead, prepared to engulf the very ground I stand on.

        "Daniel!" I scream one last time, then a white hot wall of flames swallows me whole.

***

         I wake up with a start and my body jolts into an upright position. My chest heaves up and down rapidly as my heart thumps erratically in my chest. I attempt to catch my breath as my hand pats down my face and I feel the beads of sweat rolling down my forehead. A feeling of relief flows over my body when I realize that it was just a dream. I haven't seen Daniel for several months.

          I swing my legs over the bed and slowly wade my way to my bathroom. I push the door open and take a step onto the cold tiled floor. When I look at myself in the mirror, I see a haunted look on my nearly unfamiliar face. My dark brown hair is a raging, unkempt mess, while dark circles grace the brown skin under my eyes. My chocolate eyes no longer appear hopeful - as my mother used to say to me - but wild with insanity. I never knew it was possible to look at yourself in the mirror and know who you were looking at, but not recognize it as yourself. Suddenly, my hand travels to the crescent moon necklace lying at the base of my chest, where I can always find it.

          It's been six months. Lately, I've been having these horrible nightmares. Just a few days ago, I had one where Isla fell off the edge of a cliff, into razor sharp rocks below that punctured her whole body. I screamed and cried for my friend, but I couldn't do anything about it. About a week ago, I experienced one of the worst of them all. King Raymon's dark eyes stared glassily at me, as his dead, colorless body lay in a heap of leaves. Those eyes haunted me. Even though I never truly saw Raymon's body after I blindly fired my crossbow at him, I had dreams about the incident. It was as if his ghost was haunting me.

           I decide to take a warm shower and rub the sleep out of my body. As the water trickled down my back, my mind ran wild with my recent nightmare about Daniel. My experience in Cartillia wasn't nearly as haunting as my conscious has been drawing it out to be, so I didn't understand what was happening to me.

        I fuse my hands through my wet hair and keep my head bowed. When I open my eyes, I nearly slip as I jump back in utter shock. The water on the stone shower floor is now a murky, thick, black liquid. I immediately turn the shower head off and snatch a towel off of the rack to wrap around my body. What the hell is happening to me?