Memories (Of Dreams and Demons)

Remember

Darkness engulfs me.

Am I dead? No, my body reminds me of the beating I just took at the hands of Moloch, and I think I am screaming. My heart is still beating; I can hear it thumping, blood coursing pain through my brain.

Something flickers across my sight, a rush of disorderly colour: a scene from a world far away.  It is followed by a second flicker: of the Realm at its most beautiful, bathed in light. Lost amidst nothing, a chain of images flash before my eyes; none lasting more than a fraction of a second. Next comes an image of the school yard where I first met Naoko, then a flash of my house, and a flash of the clearing where I spoke to Alia. A movie reel showing highlights of our story in no particular order, just like those stories where they say your life flashes before your eyes the moment you die. Yet I'm not dead, or dying, am I? Between the images, only darkness within which I have been cast remains. There is no sign of Moloch, or Naoko or the Realm, only rivers of shadow that ebb and flow between splotches of black nothing. Beyond the pain and shadow, I can't feel or see anything real or unreal. Have I gone blind?

I fend off growing panic, trying to calm my breathing. Something important is happening; surely there is a way out of this. I believe there has to be some kind of answer, I just need to try and understand. Trying to slow the images flashing before my eyes, my mind halts on one scene in particular. That's right, Naoko and I were fighting Moloch right before he shoved us both back into the shadows. Pain shoots up my hand and broken fingers, and a burning stinging over my arms and back reminds me of Moloch's vicious clawing. Sighing heavily, at least the pain tells me I am still alive, but where? Where am I?

With the pain my sense of self-awareness grows, and I feel myself kneeling on a hard surface. A jet-black marble floor materializes beneath me and stretches off in every direction for eternity. An odd sound, like wind sucked backwards, causes me to look up. The black space before me simmers, swirling inwards like an intricately patterned vortex.  Forming a portal, it turns a deep twilight blue and spins faster. Familiar whispers fill my mind, words I can't quite make out: the man of shadow. Swaying on my knees, fear highlights my pain and I almost pass out, my mind as battered as my body.

"Naoko," I try to shout without thinking. "Run!"

I have to get out of here. Trying to stand, I rest my hands gingerly on the ground to try and push myself up. My body won't move. Laced with pain and locked in darkness, there is nothing for me to do but sit and wait helplessly against fate. The portal gasps open, a dark silhouette appearing within. Even in pitch black I can feel stronger waves of shadow pour out in this place without light. The silhouette gains form, and a tall, dark figure takes its place. The man of shadow. He's really here, right in front of me, and I cannot flee. My boyish bravado crumbles; my sanity shakes.

"Found you," he whispers, stepping forward.

But he has his back to me, facing something ahead beyond my sight. Beside him a short, rodent-like creature walks in lock-step. Dressed head to toe in a perfectly-tailored, expensive black suit, the creature does not take its eyes off the man of shadow as they walk on. They move together swiftly.

'My lord, she will –', the creature's voice trails off out of range of my hearing, before being cut short by the man waving his hand sharply through the air, gesturing silence.

They both walk a ways off ahead, and my eyes follow their every footstep. The dark floor around them is slightly illuminated, my curious sight giving form to their surroundings as they follow their path. He reaches a certain point and stops, looking down at the floor with disdain.

I can see her, beyond the darkness and shadows. Crying alone in the distance, Naoko kneels with her hands covering her face. So broken, so alone; lost in a terrible darkness. Like me. She needs me. Mustering as much strength as I can, I try to crawl towards her, hearing my joints and bones groan and crack in displeasure. I force my pain into a distant place, keeping it sealed in a piece of my mind I refuse to access.