ONEIRAL: The Witch, The Book and The Mirror

Chapter 1: The Storm

Some people would kill to remember.
Some people would kill to forget.

It was raining outside. The leaves of the trees whispered when the wind blew, and the drops that fell created a messy and rather notorious compass. In this season of the year it was quite ordinary, however, there was something different in the environment, as if the air foreshadowed a coming hurricane.
There was a young woman sitting in the window frame. She had a pale complexion, well-groomed black hair, red eyes and thin lips. She was leafing through a book eagerly, clearly searching for something. The book had covers of forest-green leather, but seemed pretty normal in everything else. While she continued studying each page that passed carefully, someone knocked on the door.
"Your highness" said a weak voice from the other side of the door "the general wishes to speak with you."
"Let him pass" she replied without looking away.
There were steps approaching until they stopped at the door, then a squeak as the door swung over its hinges, and a young man wearing armor entered; quite good looking, with golden hair and brown eyes. He bowed to the girl, who did not flinch and continued her analysis of the book in her hands.
"The dispute has been resolved" said the soldier firmly.
"Good" replied the girl while turning the page.
The soldier looked at her, and stopped at the book.
"Is it that bad?" he asked.
"So it seems" she replied "I can't find the spell."
"Didn't you, like, memorize it?" he added tentatively "Because, you know, you hate this weather."
"I know, and I memorized it. I tried, and it didn't work. I need something stronger" she said hastily while turning the pages diligently.
"It's curious" he continued "that spell had only failed ..."
At that moment, a violet lightning split the sky. Its light flashed throughout the forest, and the next second, the thunder was heard, loud and vibrant. The girl looked up in horror, turned to see the general with an expression of despair, and seeing that he was perplexed and frozen in place, she screamed:
"What are you waiting for? I want all the men in the forest, now!" She ordered
"Yes, your highness," he replied and instantly stormed out of the room. Less than five minutes later the palace doors opened, and the battalions went on horseback to the forest. When the troops arrived where the lightning had struck, they came face to face with a dark-skinned girl, with white hair and blue eyes. Her horns pocked through the hood of her cape, and, as she looked up to the sky, her hands moved as if directing an orchestra. She turned and gave them a mocking smile, after which she addressed the general.
"A pleasure as always Ypero, but today I really don't feel like fighting" she said in a calm voice, although it resonated all over the place.
"You shouldn't have announced your entry then!" Ypero exclaimed fiercely at the same time he unsheathed his sword.
"Ah, that. Please do not get me wrong; the fact that I don't want to fight does not mean that I did not want to see you" she replied sweetly, even so there was mockery in her voice. Faster than anyone could register, she threw some tiny crystal balls to them, which exploded in the ground, releasing a pinkish cloud that spread rapidly through the forest, and both soldiers and horses, coming into contact with it, fell to the ground instantly.
The princess watched everything from the telescope that was in her window, and when she saw the pink smoke that was spreading in all directions, she knew something bad had happened. She rushed herself to the stables, climbed on a horse and rode as fast as she could into the forest. When she arrived, she saw with horror all the unconscious men on the ground, and, in front of her fallen general, the Witch .
"Oh, hello honey! I thought you wouldn't go out in this weather. It's not good for your hair" said the Witch, bowing jeerly.
"How dare you come?" she snapped furiously "I forbade you to set foot in the kingdom again. What did you do to them?"
"Pfft! Ilio dear, you worry too much. They're just sleeping, it's not such a big deal. Also, changing the subject, you're right but, as you can see, I'm standing on my feet, so it´s perfectly legal" she said while waggling her feet and pointing at them, as to prove her point.
"When will they wake up?" The princess asked with furious concern as she directed a glance to her general lying unceremoniously on the ground.
"I don't know" she said lightly "tomorrow, in a week, a year, maybe in a century. Those details don't have much relevance."
Ilio felt her blood boiling with anger and pointed her hands at The Witch, shooting a fireball at her. She simply moved aside, ducking the know constant blasts of fire directed towards her. She shielded herself behind a tree, and when Ilio tried to walk towards her, she found that her feet were tied to the ground with roots. She started to aggressively throw fireballs to the roots, but they stayed in the same place. Seeing her distraction was working, the Witch started to draw a set of runes in the air, one after another, and then, closed her eyes, her factions revealing deep concentration. After a few moments, she snapped her eyes open when something hit the tree she was leaning in, just to find Ilio free of the roots and charging towards her. She reached for her cape desperately and sighted in relief when her fingers found one last crystal ball, which she immediately threw to the princess. The same pink fog escaped from it, and Ilio began to stumble.
"You…" she managed to say with hatred before falling asleep.
The Witch looked at her for a moment, then began to draw the same set of runes than before. Once again, she closed her eyes, concentrated deeply, and a moment later, she was gone. The storm started to fade, leaving a battalion of soldiers and a princess sleeping of the wet grass.
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She opened her eyes again, now surrounded by stone ruins. She walked around, stumbling on her feet, making an effort to stay standing. She looked around, but directed her attention to the edge of the cliff when she heard something. She walked slowly there, and kneeled at the border.
"Korem?" she yelled
"Get me up!" a voice yelled back from the beach bellow the cliff.
The witch extended her arm, and moved it up slowly, until a man appeared floating in front of her. She gently put him on the ground beside her, and he held his hand to help her up. She took it, and when she stood up, the ground was spinning, bloody moving ground, so she held unto his shoulder for support.
"You have it?" she asked, turning to look at him.
"Of course I do" he replied, sounding slightly offended.
"You okay?"
"I am." he looked at her, assessing her face. She looked exhausted, as if her legs were about to give in at any moment (which was not far from reality)
"Sel, what the hell happened?"
"Well" she started her explanation "turns out holding a storm, ducking fire and tele transporting two people is not exactly…easy" she finished lamely, looking like a kid who just got lectured for playing in the mud.
"You said you´d be fine" he said sternly.
"And I am!" she defended "I just… I just need to…" she collapsed before she could end, not like she needed to. He took her in his arms and carried her to one of the stone building. Inside there was a mildly illuminated room, with shelves full of vials, boxes and bottles. A full body mirror was standing in the side of a bed. Korem deposited her gently on the bed, took her boots off and grabbed a blanket to cover her up. He then took a green-leather book out of his satchel and put it in the nightstand next to the bed. He took one last look at her and left the room. He walked towards the nearest building and entered in it. It was another room, a little bit smaller, no strange vials and bottles everywhere, definitely tidier than hers. He went straight to the bed, took off his shoes and laid there. He looked troubled, lost in thought. He didn´t know how long he spend, nor in which moment he drifted to sleep.