Vaemyr (prime)/stories/Of Dreams and Nightmares part2
Opening Notes
This story relates to the up-coming Four-Winds Isle storyline, "What Dreams May Come"
This is the second part and conclusion of this little arc of Vaemyr's leading up to the start of the QST storyline.
Warning, the dream sequence may be disturbing for some readers, discretion is advised.
Story
The meeting had gone well. Missoni and Khobra both brought different views on how to combine the three key components of this elixir, the drug of youthful visions, a sleeping potion, and the ancient sorcery spell, nightmare.
It had been a delicate balance that the Sylvan Sorcerer couldn’t quite get right on his own, either the sleeping wasn’t strong enough, or the magic would overpower the drug which would lead to disastrous results. But the hours were not in vain, Missoni had the idea to manifest the magic in the same way that sorcerers do with their black roses. That given physical form they could balance the final product and Khobra had provided expertise on the combination process so that the magic, potion, and drug held their potency in the final elixir. Yes. This should work. The Sylvan had done a couple minor tests even some involving animals, to ensure that the elixir would at least not cause any physical harm to the user.
Everything was prepared.
A loud rumble of thunder could be heard from outside the residence in which he sat, and he looked out into the stormy dark of the night.
“Well, this certainly is a pretty good backdrop for a nightmare,” he said as rain and wind pelted the house. “Let us hope that I can get a better idea of what might behind all of this, maybe even get a good look at this mysterious monster that has alluded us so far,” he continued, looking over at Missoni and Novarian who he had invited to look over him while he was dreaming.
He rubbed his fingers over the bottle in his hand and took one last look at the storm outside before laying back in the chair he was sitting in. “Well, here goes.”
“One, Two, Three…” the boy counted slowly closing his eyes against the tree. He heard the other kids scatter off, as he continued to count…
“Ready or not, here I come!” he shouted as he opened his eyes and looked around. Hmmm where could they have gone…
A quiet rumble sounds in the distance.
The young sylvan boy looked around, checking in all the best hiding spots. He’d played these games for years and had gotten quite good at it by now. “Ah ha! Found You!” He shouted out as he pointed a one of the other kids hiding up in a tall tree. “Awww, you got me, guess I’ll head back” the other boy responded as he got down. A bit of looking around more, and he had found all the other kids but one. “Ok I give up, come on out!” the sylvan yelled out.
A rumble sounds in the distance.
"Ummm, anyone know where the other kid is?” the sylvan boy asked, but the other kids responded “Who are you talking about? This is everyone…”
He was a bit confused, but maybe he miscounted when they started. Well here we go it was his turn to hide. He ran off into the streets and saw a small opening beneath a building. “Perfect” he thought to himself as he ducked underneath. He waited… it seemed pretty quiet until he heard the kid who was ‘it’ say “ok I give up, come on out Vaemyr!”
Another rumble sounds, the thunder growing louder and closer.
The sylvan boy grinned and climbed out, coming back to the tree. He looked around for a moment and asked, “Did you not find the other kids?”
“What do you mean, it was just you and me playing today, Vaemyr,” the other child replied. “Come on one more time, I wanna hide again!” he said before the sylvan could respond and ran off.
The sky was now quite dark with clouds, and another CRACK of thunder rumbled… The Sylvan boy only counted a few, because he was getting worried… what was going on… let me go find the other boy quickly so he could try and ask more questions. He searched through the streets, looked everywhere, then turned an alley and saw the boy looking over at something. The sylvan ran up, “Hey, what’s going on…”
Rain was falling now, liquid dripped down the bodies of the two children. CRACK! as another sound of thunder sounded.
The other boy turned… a cold blank look showing and his face almost as white as snow. “You found me…” he shivered…
Before the sylvan boy responded he looked over into the alley, where the boy had been staring. There, lay bodies of children… blood drenched their clothes, and all wore looks of pure horror on their faces, almost as if the had been frozen that way at the moment of death.
The sylvan screamed!... but he didn’t hear his own voice. “You found all of us…” The other boy continued… “We thought we could get away… or hide…” he said slowly, and then fell to the ground.
The sylvan replied back, ‘What do you mean! What’s going on, Someone, anyone help! Wait… Why can’t I talk… what’s happening…’
He felt a creepy grin come across his face as he looked down at his hands. They were soaked… and stained red. The adult Sylvan looked on with horror, his presence hovering in the sky briefly as he was given a bird’s eye view of this scene of carnage… he had… murdered them all. It took all of his concentration not to be lost back into the nightmare. No he needed to analyze this, look for…something. He closed his eyes and focused… searched… there was something there, the slightest hint of another presence or magic. Someone or something not of this dreamworld… he dug deeper until he felt a sharp pain and opened his eyes.
In front of him stood the grinning form of his childhood self… a black claw instead of a normal hand pierced into his chest… he tried to cry out, but everything faded to black…
“AHHHHHHH” Vaemyr let out a scream as he awoke, elemental and spiritual energy began swirling as he called his magic to defend himself.
Missoni reacted quickly dispelling the magic and calling out “You’re awake now, calm yourself.”
He shook his head again, slumping back in the chair for a moment… then perked up. “Oh Miss Missoni, hi there!” he replied almost bubbly, showing no signs of the horror he had just witnessed.
At this moment Kiyna came busting into the room wondering what had happened, as she looked at Vaemyr, she noticed immediately something was different. This was the man who had helped raise her afterall… but this wasn’t him? Or was it.
They all talked for a while. Vaemyr spoke of the other presence of the dream, ‘There’s definitely something really bad going on! It do something… but I not sure exactly what it is still. Oh but I should sleep, Kiyna we should play tomorrow! You always know fun spots to go” he smiled sheepishly, a look unbefitting his usual self, and bounced off to his bed, a childish energy filling him.