Dreams

She sits in the center of that crystal ring, chains heavy around her wrists. Sarale whimpers tugging at the chains when she hears the sounds of familiar voices calling to her.

SARALE:

"Guys?"

Their figures becoming visible in the fog, they were chained and a demon paced around them.

SARALE:

"Let them go! It's me you want!"

The demon looks back at her and grins as he pulls out a pair of long garden shears. Sarale's eyes grow wide as he approaches Vajor.

SARALE:

"N-no! Don't please!" 

She pleads as Vajor struggles against his chains, his ears pulled back and his eyes wide as the demon positions the shears around his ear.

SARALE:

"STOP IT! DON'T! PLEASE!! I'll do whatever you want!" 

The demon clamps the shears down around Vajor's ear and he screams in agony as the flesh falls to the ground. Blood runs down his face and he looks up at her, a look of betrayal in his eyes. The demon then does the same to Karma's tail, slicing through the appendage like a hot knife and butter. Their scream echoing around Sarale's head and she tugs at the chains trying to break free. Her wrists bleeding as she tries to get to her friends.

DEMON:(*from cage*)

"you're pathetic. They're right there and you can't break a simple chain to save them. What kind of protector are you? What kind of person abandons their friends to be tortured? You should just die. The world would be a much better place without you."

SARALE:

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Just shut the fuck up you grotesque bitch!"

Sarale shouts at her when she hears Tunda scream in agony. She watches with tear stained eyes as the demon tears out his eyes and eats them. The gelatinous squish between its teeth makes her stomach turn. Sarale stares in horror as the demon tears scales from Aktlass' flesh slowly carving her friends up until they were lifeless heaps of flesh and blood. 

Long after they had stopped screaming, she sat staring at them, tears streaming down her face. The snapping and cracking of bones drawing her attention to Aktlass. He stared at her blankly with lifeless dead eyes.

AKTLASS:

"I was wrong. You are a monster."

SARALE:(quivering)

"n-no. I'm sorry. Please."

Tunda crawls towards her and she slinks away.

TUNDA:(malicious)

"this is all your fault. We're dead because you left us. Some sister you are."

SARALE:

"P-p-please stop. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

Karma sighs and stands stumbling.

KARMA:

"You know. I never really wanted to be near you. I just kinda felt bad for someone so pathetic."

Sarale whimpers, hugging herself when a hand rests on her shoulder.

VAJOR:

"dove?"

SARALE:(*looks up*)

"V-Vajor?"

VAJOR:(smiles gently)

"heh, yeah. *Sigh* I think it's funny, really. Ya actually thought I loved ya."

He scoffs and towers over her.

VAJOR:

"someone like ya could never be loved by anyone. Ya don't deserve it. Ya were a good fuck though, about all ya were good fer in tha end."

"Why did you leave us?"

"Monster."

"Worthless."

"Pathetic."

"Disgusting."

"Weak."

Sarale curls in on herself and sobs.

SARALE:

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

VAJOR:

"Ya should never have been born."

KARMA:

"I wish I'd never met you."

TUNDA:

"I was better off with Patrice."

AKTLASS:

"I should have killed you when I had the chance."

*****

Sarale's eyes dart behind her eyelids and she whimpers in her sleep. Her skin coated in blood and dirt as tears clean a path down her face in streaks. Blood running slowly from her slightly parted lips and gurgles in her throat and chest. 

*****

Everything grows quiet and Sarale sniffles as she looks up to see a man. Tall and gray skinned standing before her. His hair white as snow and his eyes a cold gray blue.

GRAY MAN:

"you're mine now, Aenmel. I've finally found you."

Sarale's eyes widen and she shuffles away.

SARALE:

"F-father?"

GRAY MAN:

"That's right. I'm going to finish what I started and purge the world of your existence." 

Sarale's shoulders fall as the scene changes. Her friends are hanging crucified on the keep's walls. The smells of burning flesh filling her nostrils and smoke stinging her eyes as her father approaches. The keep's walls igniting in flames. The man kneels before her and wraps his hands around her throat. She doesn't fight him.

SARALE:

"... You were right, dad. I don't belong in this world."

GRAY MAN:(smiles)

"I'm always right, Aenmel. You'd do well to remember that."

He tightens his grip and Sarale feels her airway being constructed when she gazes past him the keep shifting to the Temple she grew up in. Sardan and her mother standing there with disappointment in their eyes.

SARDAN:

"I never should have wasted my time on you, snowdrop."

Her mother rocks a crying baby in her arms. His long fluffy ears pulled back. 

ELYRIA:

"A second chance. Maybe this one won't be such a disgrace."

Sarale closes her eyes as her father tightens his grip resigned to her fate. A snap suddenly echoes throughout the darkness loud and and clear, ringing through her head as everything stops in time as a tall young man steps out of the demon in the distance like a curtain of black fog that dissipates as he walks closer the figure of her father vanishing into a fog without a single mark of pain on her as her head stayed facing up waiting for her end.

FAE:(sighs)

"le' sighs, le' woe. It was quite the pain to find you back here, miss *Dove*. It took me like an hour to get here cuz you were hurt so bad. Even waisted a few goodberries on you to help you heal."

Sarale looks over at the fiery haired young man and sniffles.

SARALE:

"why? Why help me at all? I know you don't like me and that's okay. I don't expect you to, but why? Won't letting me die be so much easier for everyone?"

FAE:

"not in my forest."

The fae claps his hands as he approaches her closer until he is towering over her as if she were but a tiny child.

FAE:

"I got enough of those killing my trees. I don't need a demon walking around after you've gone. Do you know how much of a pain it is to get a shadow detached from its source to kill it? I hate doing it! It sucked making people scream from ripping a demon attachment off 'em. And now I gotta put up with your depressing ass not wanting to sleep so I can do my damn job as I was asked to. It's like babysitting a grown ass baby. Seriously."

SARALE:

"wah~... you're a brat you know that? And it's not that I didn't want to sleep, trust me, I'd rather deal with that disgustingly grotesque bitch than let any of them win. It wouldn't let me."

FAE:

"Hm... 'Zat so... Well, out of sheer curiosity, what made you run off on silver eyes?"

SARALE:(sighs *looks past fae*)

"I couldn't stay. It felt wrong, like being near them only made things worse. They'd all be better off without me, anyways. I'm just a burden. (*looks at fae*) not like you care."

FAE:

"not for you. I like the silver eyes, but he had a massive panic attack out of nowhere as soon as he saw you were gone without the gift he was gonna make you give me for a pardon. Now he's gotta deal with the backlash of you missing by the snake that wants to rip his head off and his favorite little half devil is having doubts about their kinship. Poor thing is taking the brunt of the pain now after he tried so hard to help you stay off of my radar. Even tried to explain what you were all about and made a deal to watch over you. So here I am. Watching over you. And making sure you don't die and go somewhere you're not supposed to as promised. You're gonna be out of it for like... A day at best. Enough time for your friends to find you and take you back to the trail you were supposed to stay on and out of my forest."

Sarale stares him down, blankly.

SARALE:

"how thoughtful of you."

She looks away and her brows furrow and she looks remorseful.

SARALE:

"I didn't mean for any of them to get hurt… Poor Tunda. I have to make it right. I won't let Aktlass hurt him. Even if I have to fight Aktlass, myself. Karma will be pissed, but I'll bear the brunt of their anger so Tunda doesn't have to. It's not his fault."

She hugs her knees, the chains clanking and rattling as she moves, and rests her chin in them.

SARALE:(teary)

"I fucked up so bad."

FAE:

"yeah. Ya really did, though. Not like it's completely your fault... Rather the grumbling bitch over there is the most at fault for your blunder."

The boy points to a cage that appears in the distant darkness behind him. Inside was the limp body of the sleeping demon that resides in her being. 

FAE:

"Now that I've finally got to put the naggy bitch to sleep..."

He looks back at Sarale and boops her nose.

FAE:

"you can rest easy, he can get started on his part of the deal once you return, and I don't have to worry about anything going astray again. Win, win, win for everybody... If they can all accept these terms, that is. I'm gonna need you to help with this one tiny problem. Mkay?"

SARALE:(*head tilt*)

"if it helps Tunda. I'll do it. Though, I don't understand why you'd need everyone to agree. And why the hell was Bishnar here? Fucking prick tried to hurt Ithildin. Losing his arm like that seems too little. (*looks at Fae and smiles*) it was pretty cool though, kudos there."

She crosses her legs and looks back at the demon queen, her elbows resting on her knees.

SARALE:

"He works for her. Fucking cunt. This is all her fucking fault. The shadow, the lack of sleep. Fucking Bitchnar."

She huffs and runs a hand through her hair. Her sorrow shifts to anger as she sits up straight and glares at the demon queen.

SARALE:

"I swear if I ever see my father again I'm skinning him alive and feeding him to Loonu. None of this is Tunda's fault and it's not mine either. It's hers. I wish I could fucking strangle her."

FAE:

"... Good. Your head is finally in the right place."

The boy stands straight and stretches his body with a big cute smile that reveals tall sharp canines behind his rosy lips.

FAE:

"I should get an extra offering for this one. And word of advice, Dovely. You're not as spiteful as she makes you out to be."

He winks at her and vanishes into a mist that flies around her and wipes the darkness away like a dusty window, revealing the beautiful, color rich world she was shown the first time they met in her dreams.

SARALE:(*confused head tilt*) 

"dovely? Really? I think I'd rather be called a bitch."

She looks around the space and smiles to herself, before getting up and wandering through the world he'd given her to explore. The boy suddenly appears in front of her with his upper body floating around her.

FAE:

"alright. Nice to meet you bitch. You can call me John!"

He vanishes again and reappears on her other side.

JOHN:

"Or Johnny. That works too. (giggle)"

SARALE:

"I think I'll call you kid, instead. Since you are still such a baby."

Sarale says with a glint of amusement in her eyes. The boy, John, hovers near her, following her as she walks around.

JOHN:

"Hey! I'm 16. I am entitled to being a baby."

He suddenly shrinks down to her size and squishes his own cheeks.

JOHN:

"Ga Ga Ba!"

Sarale stares him down with a smirk.

SARALE:

"The only thing missing is a pacifier. Then, I'd believe it. Nice try though, I see what you're trying to do and it won't work. All you're doing is reminding me of Lendral. To be fair, you can call me Sarale. It's not my birth name so.. no real problem there."

JOHN:

"nah. Bitch is funnier, but whatever."

SARALE:

"Then kid it is. Or Child. I could call you Child. Maybe just Baby, but that would be weird. No, not baby. Though you are a baby when it comes to my age. Sixteen is child's play."

JOHN:

"Thanks, I hate it..."

She continues exploring as she talks, her eyes wandering the environment with delight and wonder.

SARALE:

"This place is amazing."

 John stays steady floating as he flips upside down and hangs his head. He was sulking from being called a child in so many ways in one sentence. The translucent grace of his rudy colored hair shimmered by her as it fluttered gracefully like a thick fluid. Sarale's eyes focus on his hair and she smiles reaching out without thinking to run her fingers through it. She stops when she notices what she did and pulls back wide eyed.

SARALE:

"Sorry!"

JOHN:

"for what?"

John looks at her with an odd cringe on his face. He seemed to distrust her apology.

SARALE:

"Uh.. I.. uhm.. never mind."

Sarale looks away embarrassed and crosses her arms.

SARALE:

"Your hair is pretty, by the way. Reminds me of a field of scarlet sage."

John looks at her with curiosity as his bright sky blue eyes stare daggers at her embarrassed expression. He flips his hair at her and lets it brush her face. Sarale giggles and crinkles her nose, waving his hair away.

SARALE:

"That tickles!"

She pauses and looks around.

SARALE:

"where are we? This place is magnificent."

JOHN:

"A dream, obviously."

SARALE:(disinterest)

"clearly. I'm not dumb, contrary to what you may think. Just what's it based on?"

JOHN:

"It's the fae realm. More specifically, it's my homeland... My birth place."

SARALE:

"It's so pretty. No wonder you're so vibrant. You had to match your environment."

A thought strikes her and she turns to John,

SARALE:

"Are fae like some animals and insects? The brighter they are, the more dangerous they are?"

JOHN:

"... Not even. Color doesn't matter for us. We are all just curious. Some of us, more mischievously curious than others."

SARALE:

"Regardless, you're pretty… I mean it's pretty. This place is pretty."

Sarale sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.

SARALE:

"What the hell is wrong with me?"

John looks at her and floats in front of her to look her in the face.

JOHN:

"... Looks like the medicine is working right."

He smiled but his eyes seemed disinterested.

JOHN:

"You should be waking up soon. Be sure to apologize to Silver eyes when you see him. And give him this."

John summons a roll of paper and hands it to her.

JOHN:

"This is for his eyes only now. So no peeking."

Sarale reaches for the paper and meets John's gaze. She smiles faintly.

SARALE:

"You really do have pretty eyes. Thank you John, for everything you've done to help. (smirks and looks away) even if you are a little shit sometimes."

He pulls back and walks next to her as a teen again.

JOHN:

"I'm always a shit. What are you talking about?"

He suddenly shoves her to make her trip. 

SARALE:

"Oi! You little…!"

Sarale jerks awake from the shove and looks around to find herself in a tent with a rolled up piece of paper in her hand.

VAJOR:

"Hey.. hey~ easy dove." 

Sarale's head whips around to see Vajor sitting near her. His eyes full of concern and hope.

SARALE:(raspy)

"Vajor?(cough)"

Vajor quickly offers her a waterskin.

VAJOR:

"Here, drink. Ya've been out fer a good day and night. Talkin' in yer sleep too."

Vajor looked tired and Sarale's heart broke. She guzzles the water greedily as it spills from the corner of her mouth and runs down her chin. Vajor chuckles, 

VAJOR:

"Hey, slow down. Yer gonna choke."

He pulls the waterskin away from her and she gasps for air and pants.

SARALE:

"I was so thirty, I'm sorry."

Her amethyst eyes round as she looks up at him. 

VAJOR:(gulps)

"uh. Heh. Yeah it's okay. How are ya feeling?"

SARALE:

"better… Vajor?"

VAJOR:

"Hmm?"

He looks back and sees the sadness in her eyes.

SARALE:(*innocently child-like*)

"I'm sorry for being so much trouble."

VAJOR:

"it's alright dove. Are ya sure yer feelin' okay? Ya sound a bit off."

SARALE:(smiles brightly)

"yeah! John isn't so bad, ya know?"

VAJOR:(confused)

"John?"

SAARALE:(nods)

"yeah! The fae boy. He's a jerk, but so was Lendral at that age. He wanted me to give this to Tunda... TUNDA! Oh no!"

She scrambles to her knees and tries to crawl out of the tent when Vajor grabs her and pulls her into a hug.

SARALE:

"Vajor?"

VAJOR:

"Just.. let me hug ya fer a moment. Please."

Sarale nods and settles into his hug stroking his hair.

VAJOR:

"I was so worried. I thought I'd lost ya. Please.. don't ever do that again. I can't…"

Vajor sniffles and Sarale pulls back to look at him. 

She holds his face in her hands. 

SARALE:(smiles)

"I promise. If I ever think I need to run away again. I'll talk to you first, deal?"

Vajor chuckles, his eyes crinkling at the sides.

VAJOR:(sighs)

"Deal… Yer not gonna be happy when ya go out there. Fair warnin'. I tried ta stop them, but I was lookin' after ya when it happened and couldn't get there in time."

SARALE:(frowns)

"what are you talking about?"

She looks at the tent flap and pulls away from him, crawling out of the tent and blinking back the early morning light.