The Rainlands: Grand Delusion

Chapter 38: Dreams And Nightmares

"That can't be right!" He exclaimed, taken aback. Illios' eyes turned away for a split second before returning to the trees.

"You're seeing right." The man replied. Levi squeezed his eyelids, trying to see clearer. He became acutely aware that the open clearing they were in only extended for a couple hundred feet in either direction. "They're moving."

"But...how? There must be wind over there or...or..." Levi trailed off, realizing that while he hadn't been able to tell while running, there hadn't been any sort of wind this whole time. But he had distinctly remembered hearing the rustling of leaves as they ran. I just assumed that it was from farther away, but now... "Are they...they're alive?"

"Shatterstorm. I can feel them. The Shatterstorm meshed their destinies all together, almost like a Reincarnation. The whole forest, it's connected." Mist opened her eyes and spoke, "You can't beat it, but neither can the ones who took Jasmine. This is your chance, Levi!"

"Yea...wait what?" Levi was still too busy staring at the trees. They seemed almost sinister now, and maybe it was his imagination but it was like they were leaning towards him, their boughs and branches swaying slightly despite the lack of wind. This is creepy! He took a second look around the clearing, and shivered. They're all doing it! It was impossible for every single one of the trees to be leaning towards them at the same time, unless they were inside a whirlwind. Mist's words began to make more sense. It dawned upon him what she meant. "You're saying these trees, they're working together? Against us? What do they want with us?"

"Do I look like I speak tree?" Mist grinned, closing her eyes again. "Catch your breath, then you need to get going. They're getting away." For a time, all was quiet, except for the sound of sticks bending and breaking in the distance. It was as if there was an invisible giant stalking them outside the clearing, walking here and there, waiting for them to enter the forest and snatch them up. When Levi peered closer, he could even see the bushes shaking and vines snaking up the trees like worms. If he didn't know better, he would have assumed he was seeing things. But even after he blinked...they're still moving.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Levi stood. Before he could even finish saying the words, Mist's eyes shot open. She stared at him like she could right through him and Levi got the disconcerting feeling that she could see everything about him, knew everything about him.

"You need to be stronger." She said softly. "You are ready to give chase yet are not ready to fight. This is a mistake. A fatal one." Her words embarrassed Levi, poked at his fears, but he refused to give in.

"You think I don't now that!" He stepped towards her. She shook her head.

"Then why are you getting offended when I say it? I'm only telling you that you need to improve." Mist sighed, then strode over to Levi, her feet seeming to float over the ground. Her grace reminded him of Jasmine, but even Jasmine didn't have the ability to seemingly glide. "Before we leave this clearing, you need to stop holding back. I can sense it in you, some hesitation, you're refusing to listen to your Reincarnation. What are you scared of? Yourself? Let go of your fear, Levi. If you want to have any hope at saving Jasmine, this must change." She reached over and put her hand over his forehead. Then she brought her fingertips down, making him close his eyes. "Think of what you are. Learn what you are capable of."

Levi could feel her fingers hovering on the other side of his eyelids, just barely touching him. A pulsing electricity, like a vibration, seemed to be flowing into him from her fingers and he stiffened but he heard Illios mutter nearby.

"Stop struggling kid. Let her in." He gruffly ordered and Levi forced himself to relax. The darkness behind his eyelids pulsated gently, he could see...see something out there. It was hidden in the shadows of his own mind. Little surges of crackling lightning danced at the edge of his sight, light intertwined with the endless night. A pressure began to build, seeping in through his eyes, until it felt like his head was going to explode. "That's the way. Hold fast and don't lose your mind kid."

"I won't." Levi declared, calm and steady. Whatever this is, whoever I was, I have to accept it. For Jasmine! In that moment, he became calm, and the lightning grew blinding. It was as if he was walking forward, crossing that uncrossable darkness behind his eyelids and entering the sparks. Then the sparks exploded. All became yellow flashes, his world seeped away and he lost track of what he was, who he was, except for one thing.

Jasmine.

The wind was severe, bitterly cold out on the frosty tundra. To his right, laid some unknown sea, full of forbidden monsters and hungry terrors. On his left, was a frozen land of ice and snow, home to its own abominations. In front of him, a narrow strip of rocks which led back home. He remembered who stranded him here. His very own brother seeking the throne. The usurper had counted on the monsters to scare him away, the cold to hold him back, and the depression to slow him down. But all his brother had given him was a reason to fight. He would return, and he would reclaim his throne.

When he took his first step onto the rocks, the frigid sea on the right began to roil. Monstrous beasts, tentacles, coils, it was like all creation had awoken with but one goal...to drag him under. However, he raised his right hand and pointed and lightning sprang forth from him. It crackled, shooting into the misty froth and caused geysers of real steam to explode forth from the broken sea. The monsters screamed turbulently, thrashing all about, desperately trying to escape but their watery home had become an endless grave. Upon his second step, countless wild creatures stepped forth on the left, their claws ripping apart the dirt and causing the world to shake. However, though his right hand was occupied, he felt no fear. He raised his left, and then the creatures of the land, they too grew to know pain as well-

"Seen enough?" Mist's voice broke into Levi's head, splitting his consciousness away from the memories of...someone else? That was me? Or was I? Levi shook his head, realizing that he had almost lost himself in the dream. If Mist hadn't said anything, if I had just kept remembering...would I still be me at the end? Would I have woken up? Fear pounded in his veins, not the fear of death, but of forgetting who he was, of not existing. I can't do that again. It's too dangerous! "Seems like you did see quite a bit...let's hope it's enough." Mist's voice sounded almost disappointed, but Levi felt it when she withdrew her fingers from in front of his eyelids. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and beheld the world once more. He remembered where he really was, though some part of him still remembered that terrible place, the bitter cold, and the waiting monsters. It took a moment for him to return to himself, more than a moment. But the little thing which had kept him sane, reminded him of why he had to remember, that stayed with him. Jasmine!

"I remember now. Not much, but more. I can be better." Levi straightened his back, drew his sword. "I'm ready to go." Illios clicked his tongue.

"It's about time kid." The brawny man pointed behind him at the wildly waving trees, "They've been waiting us. Let's not disappoint them, yea? I'll go first!" Illios took his spear off his back for the first time, holding it lightly in one hand, then started running. Mist grinned, following him, beckoning Levi.

"Always stay close to us, Levi. Remember, we're your guides!" She said as they crossed the no man's land of rock and dirt before entering the trees on the other side of the clearing. Instantly, Levi sensed something was off. Some primordial instinct, an ancient memory in his flesh, told him that he was in danger. He had always been scared of what was lurking in the trees at night, but this time, it was the trees themselves which he feared. The sound of every breath became a source of fear for him, a small window where he could hear nothing over the sound of his own breathing. He felt vulnerable, exposed. He began to breath shorter breaths, wishing that he could forgo breathing altogether so that he could...listen. Suddenly Illios jerked sideways up ahead. Levi caught a flash of motion, what looked like a green snake shooting between two trees. Was that a vine?