The Dreamfarer

24

╣Folco╟

When he landed, he thought that perhaps there had been a mistake. What he had thought to be the woman's nightmare looked a whole lot like reality; the woman was in a tent, cuddled up on a cot, squirming and whining as she dreamed. 

Folco looked at his hands curiously. He did not have large amounts of magic, could not shoot spells out of these hands. He could do little things; change his appearance, tie his shoes without touching the string, even change the colors of things, like the flames in his tent. However, he could not transport himself anywhere. He had never been able to and he knew that he could not possibly be starting now. This must be the woman's nightmare, though it was rare for him to travel to a dream in which someone was actually dreaming of themselves dreaming.

As strange as it was, he knew that it was true when one side of her tent was suddenly ripped open. Folco willed himself to blend in to his surroundings - more a chameleon than completely invisible - as the woman jerked herself out of her sleep and looked around. She screamed when she laid eyes on the man stealing into her tent. The man was dressed all in black, his face painted dark as well to prevent her from seeing all of his features. He reached out for her and dragged her off of the bed, one hand in her hair and one clasped around her arm.

The woman screamed bloody murder, kicking and turning her head to try to bite the kidnapper's limbs. The man cursed a few times, but it did not take long for him to get the woman outside of the tent. Folco followed.

It did not surprise him to see that it was entirely dark outside, or that there was nobody around. It was a nightmare, after all, and he doubted that it would have a happy ending.

Unless, of course, he interfered.

He was not sure how long her dream would go on for if he did not push it towards its completion, and he did not have time to spare. So, he willed himself to pop up in front of the man, who ran into him without even seeing him. Folco showed himself once more and the man did a doubletake. The former just smirked, then glanced at the woman; strange, that she was imagining this man - including all of his actions and reactions - without even trying to. The power of the subconscious was incredible and bizarre.

It looked as though the man was about to say something, but Folco was not interested in hearing it. He snapped his fingers and the man's head caught fire. The flames quickly spread, as Folco had decided that these particular ones would be fueled by the color black. The man dropped the warlock woman and fell to the ground, rolling around desperately, but it was no use. Folco stood there smiling as his fire engulfed the kidnapper, until the burning body moved no more.

That was when Folco noticed that the woman was shaking. He squatted down beside her and hushed her, trying to comfort her a bit, or at least make her realize that he was a friend to her. He did not touch her, knowing that that would just make her fear him more.

Finally, she spoke, but it was not the first thing he expected to hear. "You're Folco."

He blinked and scratched his chin before he responded, "Do you know me?" 

The woman nodded, casting a nervous glance at him, then at the corpse. "I think everyone in the camp recognizes you, don't they?"

"So you are in the camp," he murmured, mostly to himself. Then he looked more closely at her. "But I don't think I know you personally. So why am I here?"

The woman shifted uneasily. "I have no idea, Sir... but actually, I'm glad that you are," she said. She pressed her lips together, as if apprehensive about what she was about to say. 

"Because I just saved you or for another reason?" Folco demanded. It had not taken long at all so far, but he was still growing impatient. He wanted Mae back. He needed Mae back. He did not even know where she was, or what had happened to her, and if this woman did, then he needed the answers she could give him.