Memories (Of Dreams and Demons)

Prologue - One Tale Ends, One Begins

Ghekre roars a challenge at me that echoes across the ship, promising great violence. At his charge, the shield Kaiken and I manage to summon in a rush shatter apart. As broken pieces of light flicker past my face like shards of glass, I can feel something happen to me, again. But this is deeper, stranger, more absolute.

My entire life flashes before my eyes, every memory that led to this moment. Then, something more flashes. I soar forward past this instant, seeing what must only be destinies.

But I see only darkness. Every possibility remaining in my tale now leads to my death; at the hands of Ghekre, or the poison of Hannya, or a sinking ship, it's all the same. Only death meets me, only my death is real in this unreality. This tale is.. over.

So, I sigh, a long, drawn out breath. Only.. only death is real. I can feel my eyesight warp along its edges; a black curtain rolls down to dim my sight. Beyond it Ghekre barrels forward in slow motion towards me, his death too an inevitability.

Wisps of thick smoke crawl up from my eyes, poison simmering on coal. I can feel them dancing along my forehead; they almost tickle, skipping along my skin.

I frown, until only shades of grey remain to be seen, the last colour of this adventure draining before my eyes. A chilling wind lashes out from across the sea, a herald of death.

And in a few final steps Ghekre increases speed and rushes to close the gap between us. He'll reach me with enough force to knock me off my feet and into the black seas below. His weight will crush my dreams.

In a last, desperate attempt to protect me from his assault even as my death is certain, Kaiken comes to stand between us, her final act selfless, lowering her head, closing her eyes, bracing for a collision; an unstoppable force smashing forward into an immovable object.

"No.." I manage to choke out, a witness in my mind's eye to her breaking beneath a mountain.

I have no choice, either I take control, or she dies. So, I grasp the darkness, embrace this cursed power, and time stops mattering. I can feel my breath slowly exhale an eternity as I close my eyes.

The cold sea wind whips the growing shadows into black ribbons that spiral around Ghekre and slice at his skin as he charges. From the dark depths of my doomed ship a wave of shadow clambers forward, and they morph into terrifying figures.

Elongated arms mutate from their figures, holding cruel weapons from their fingers. They strike with deadly precision at Ghekre, slashing at his arms and legs until his fur is drenched in blood. Things stop making sense. Our tale sinks into something far too chaotic, beyond the realm of fantasy.

But I save her; and that is all that matters. Standing dead still amidst the chaos, darkness seethes around me as I descend into madness, the world around me warping as I bend it, barely able to contain the power.

I give the shadows purpose, give them form, and they rush forward to curl around Kaiken as a protective shield, even as she tries to shield me. I cannot have her sacrificing herself for me; she deserves a far happier destiny than dying by my side in the middle of nowhere.

Ghekre furiously into the barrier of shadowed stalagmites, barrelling forward too fast to halt. It's jarring, the sound his body makes as blades of darkness pierce him, tearing his insides apart.

He gasps, eyes wide, at me, expecting to have knocked me overboard dead into the depths below. I have not budged, instead standing defiant to death, oozing darkness, shadows boiling and popping around my body. Between him both shadow and Kaiken protect me.