What Lurks Behind The Trees

Nightmare

Celia sat up in her bed gasping, sweat making her hair stick to her face. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down, placing a hand on her chest and feeling the fast thump of her heart. A nightmare. A horrible one.

She got off her bed and walked over to the window, she sat down and watched the sky, mesmerised by the stars. She wondered if Gregor could see them now, she wondered if he was feeling the chilly breeze or if he was somewhere warm and toasty. She wrapped her arms around herself, her lips curled down as she remembered her brother, she wondered if he was even still alive. And that thought alone brought tears to her eyes.

"Why are you crying, my sweet Celia?"

Celia turned around and saw her grandmother smiling sadly at her. She walked up to Celia and wiped her tears with her thumb, cradled her face in her palms. Celia's tears ran freely down her face as she stared at her grandmother's face.

"Grandmother, have you ever felt something happen to someone even if they weren't with you?"

Her Grandmother sat beside her "Oh yes, many times,"

"How so?"

"I would feel a tightness in my chest, or I would suddenly wake up at night," she smiled at her granddaughter sweetly.

"I had a nightmare, about Gregor, it was terrible, I felt his pain,"

"Sometimes nightmares are just your fears, the things you sit and think about late at night, they come haunting you in your dreams,"

"I really want to believe you, Gran," Celia said.

"I've had many nightmares, and your mother is well and fine,"

Celia hugged her Grandmother tightly "I wish I knew you before Gran, you're so kind,"

"Oh, you are too, Celia,"

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Cedric rode west for days, with his army riding behind him. He didn't know why he was going, or what he was going to do, but he knew that for the sake of the kingdom, he would do anything.

"Master Cedric, there are the Western Peaks," a guard said, pointing at mountains in the distance.

"Think we'll reach there by morning?"

"Yes, master,"

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"Venkalth, they're coming our way," Lazarus muttered.

"Really? That's impressive," Venkalth said, not sounding impressed.

"I'm going to gather the army, in case anything does happen,"

"You do that, but I don't think it'll be needed, everything is concealed,"

"Just in case, Venkalth," Lazarus narrowed his eyes.

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The sun rose slowly from behind the rocky mountains, bringing the world back to life with its rays. Cedric watched as his army followed behind him in an orderly fashion, row after row of heavily trained men, holding swords, spears and bows.

"Now what?" Cedric asked as he stared at the large mountain in front of him.

"Master, they must be hiding somewhere around here,"

"Tell the men to check out the area and tell me if you find something," Cedric said and unmounted his horse, walking to the steep base of the mountain, the cliff side. He placed his hands on the rock and rubbed the dust between his fingers, finding nothing unusual.

"Master! We found something!" a guard said from where he stood. Cedric walked up to him with questioning eyes.

"What is it?" He looked to where the man was pointing and saw the remnants of what seemed to be large footprints on the sandy ground. "Dragon footprints."

"Yes master, it seems like it,"

"Then I'm certain they're here, keep searching," and the men all scurried away. Cedric felt like something was off in this place.

He felt a sudden gush of wind that blew his neat hair. A loud squeal-like growl was heard above them, on top of the mountain and the entire army looked up.

Cedric's eyes widened slowly as the full image entered his line of vision. A large head poked from the top of the mountain and suddenly flew down the edge of the cliff, it's unbelievably large icy wings spread across the width of the cliff.

Cedric watched in fear and astonishment as the dragon seemed to be coming closer and closer to him, its amethyst eyes fixed on him, targeting him. He was too astonished to move, too amazed to realise what was happening, and just before it could touch Cedric, the dragon lifted its head with a mighty force and flew over his head.

The dragon flapped its wings a few times before settling behind him. The rest of the army was behind the dragon. Cedric turned around and stared at it, he couldn't believe how beautiful it was, how astounding and powerful it appeared.

The dragon flared its nostrils, letting out a few puffs of air that blew at Cedric. Cedric's men scurried to him to protect him from what was to come, but before they could, another gush of wind came from above, and once again, another display of wings, this time red and hot. The fire dragon, however, flew freely in the sky, twisting around and spreading its wings for everyone to see, before landing next to the icy dragon, causing the floor to shake slightly and the dust to spray everything.

Cedric tried to settle his pounding heart, but he was feeling too many things at once, frightened but amused, fearful but shocked. The men around him were shaking with fear, their teeth clattering and their eyes wide and blown.

"Beautiful aren't they?" Venkalth yelled from where he sat on Zaveo's back. He slid down and stood next to his dragon, cloak casting a dark shadow over his face and concealing it from the people in front of him. Lazarus did the same, placing his hand on Zander's face protectively.

Cedric glared at them "So you're the magicians who stole my riches!"

Venkalth smirked "Yes, we have to grow our domain somehow," he shrugged. "Don't you think you should share, once in a while?"

"What domain are you talking about? Who are you?"

Venkalth laughed briefly "We are magicians, but I can't tell you who we really are until the grand reveal,"

"What grand reveal?!" Cedric was starting to lose his patience.

"Hmm, I'll give you a hint, it will happen on a very special day," Venkalth said.

"That's a very big army, impressive!" Lazarus said, looking behind his dragon at the thousands of men, waiting for a signal to shed blood.

"Don't lay harm on the kingdom, we can negotiate with you, we don't have to spill blood," Cedric said, gaining the attention of both men.

"No, that won't be needed, we've been preparing for this for many years, we know there's no point in negotiating with the king," Lazarus said.

"However, since we said we'll reward you if you find us, and I keep promises, we'll spare your city," Venkalth smiled innocently. "Now leave, before I change my mind, and none of these men will save you from my Zaveo," and in an instant, his innocent smile became one filled with evil and Cedric had no choice but to leave.

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