Nine Realms: Gods and Warrior Hearts

Chapter 10

Midgard

Elizabeth

"Ravenhair" she said, reaching out for him but she was too far away to touch his shoulder.

He was crying. He didn't even try to hold back the tears that were streaming down his face.

"Ravenhair..." she said again, but he didn't look up.

Grey clouds were hanging low in the sky, almost touching the willow trees in the distance.

Where were they?

Flowers, so many flower arrangements. Suddenly she realised that they were standing in front of a fresh grave. She looked around. They were surrounded by friends and family, everyone teary eyed and mournful looking.

"Mum? Dad?" no one seemed to hear her.

"Daniel?"

Her little brother stared expressionless at the grave, not taking any notice of her. The funeral conductor was reading from a piece of paper but she couldn't make out the words he said. Now her mother dissolved into an uncontrollable sob and was comforted by her dad.

Elizabeth tried to take a step towards her but was unable to move.

"What on earth is..."

She looked at the tomb stone and read the inscription:

In loving memory of Selene Elatha Welkin

Born 19th of October 1999

Died 18th of March 2018

Always loved and never forgotten

Selene Elatha...the name sounded so familiar but she couldn't quite figure out whose funeral this was.

She looked at the small oval picture above the writing and surely her heart stopped beating for a second. Her knees gave in and she sank to the damp dirt path they were gathered on.

It was her picture. That couldn't be. "No no no" she thought. Her mind was spinning, her heart now racing in her chest.

"Mum!" She screamed. "Dad!"

Panic.

She screamed at the top of her voice, staring at her own photo on a tomb stone that carried the name of a stranger. She tried to run but her feet didn't budge, instead, she started to sink into the ground. The world around her faded, the colours went blurry. She fell unconscious and hit floor.

With another scream Elizabeth woke up. It took her a few seconds to realise that she had fallen out of bed. She rubbed her shoulder. It was quite a fall from her divan bed.

What a nightmare. It all felt so real. Just a dream, she thought. It was just a dream, even though a really vivid one. The clock showed 3 in the morning, she should climb back into bed and get some more sleep but there was something that drew her away from her bed and towards her balcony doors. Her room was glowing. There was a pale white light shining through the doors, straight onto her. It was pearlescent, almost glittering.

Without thinking she followed the white light that seemed to guide her. She opened the doors and stepped barefoot outside on her balcony. An enormous full moon hung above her in the sky. Was the moon always that big? Its light was shining down on her, caressing her like a familiar, comforting embrace. The wind rustled the leaves of the illuminated trees and she thought she heard a voice whispering her name. She wasn't sure what she was doing but she stretched her arms out towards the moon as if trying to return the hug. It felt as if she grew, grew tall all the way up into the sky, closer and closer to earth's big beautiful satellite. She was losing shape, she expanded beyond her body and just before she completely shed her skin the light faded, the wind quietened down and Elizabeth's brain awoke from stand-by mode.

Suddenly she felt very heavy. Her body felt tight and she felt confined within it. What was she doing? Had she bumped her head when she fell out of bed and was she now hallucinating? Or was she perhaps turning into some sort of werewolf? She didn't howl to the moon but it did feel as if she was...transforming into something else. What just happened, she didn't know.

The street was quiet, no one was up at this time on a weekday. Everything was fine, she thought to herself. Everything was fine. Just a bad dream and a bit of confusion. Elizabeth went inside. This time she drew the curtains before she climbed back into bed. With the cover over her head it only took a few minutes for her to fall back into a restless sleep.

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Okay okay, I know I said it would get more exciting from now, but I needed to squeeze a few other bits in first. Thanks for reading!