Dream and reality

Asleep, Louis stirred in his bed, as if he had a nightmare.

- - -

Nirl - 5 years ago (memory)

Every 10 years a catastrophe would occur. A red star would descend from the sky accompanied by incessant red rain.

''Get ready! it's coming'' The village chief, Gregoire, warned.

Next to me were the strongest people in the village, the elite. Alain and Eloise were of course there, being the second strongest after Gregoire. Slightly weaker than them, were Manon, Celia, Lucas, Ema, and Bertrand. Only Michael was absent. As for Helene, my mother, and administrator of Nirl, the whole village knew well that her strength didn't allow her to fight.

Hearing his word everyone nodded and prepared to fight.

The fight began.

- - - -

The rain continued to fall making it difficult to see where everyone was. All I could hear were noises. Sounds of people fighting, of beasts howling for death, sometimes realizing that these beasts' cry was humans.

As the fighting went on, some of them lost their minds and started to attack those who still struggle to live.

At this point, Gregoire took all the responsibility and began cutting down each one of these possessed villagers with his sword.

...

The battle continued for more than an hour, and the number of demonic creatures killed was increasing. Yet the situation wasn't improving as each demonic creature who succumbed was substitute by yet another one.

And God knows how resilient these creatures were.

To kill them, the only solution was to smash their heads, split them in two, or injure them so much they'd died by blood loss.

And at some point, what was supposed to happen happened. A demonic creature killed a human and created a gap.

''What do we do? They're coming from everywhere!'' Someone shouted out of panic

''Calm down! Cleppe's men will be here soon. Meanwhile, we need to hold on!'' Gregoire shouted while finishing off a demonic creature with his sword.

Continuing the fight alongside Alain and Eloise, every second seemed to pass like an eternity.

Everything around me was gradually turning red as I only repeat one action continuously: striking.

Sometimes I did dodge, parried, and I was obviously breathing constantly, but these were only actions that allowed me to keep hitting.

It all seemed like a long dream.

But I woke up soon enough.

'' Ahhh! '' Scream of men rang out as Gregory shouted to reassure them.

A demonic creature that took on the features of a T-rex - a member of one of the ancestral beast families - broke through, followed by a herd of demonic creatures.

I fought them with all my might but soon found myself separated from Alain and Eloise.

My logic told me that the formation is broken, would be a massacre. However, I couldn't help but think of my father's words.

---

It was after yet another runaway. I had taken refuge by the pond, under a stary sky that gave some beauty to this day.

''Will the world ever change? Or will it just get worse and worse as I grow up as mommy says?'' I asked, hugging my legs together with my arms.

''huh... that's a good question, isn't it?'' He sat down next to me

''No one can ever predict the future. But someone as kind as you will surely see his dreams comes true.''

''You're lying...''

His father gave of a smile as he gently stroking his head. ''As long as you wish for it and believe it, I promise it'll happen. I'll make it happen for you''

I knew even then that everything he told me was a lie. Yet I wanted to believe him. For a moment I wanted to think that he was right, he was my role model after all. He may not have been exceptional, but he will always be for me someone irreproachable.

That's why I wished for a world without chaos, without death, and where failure would only make us progress. That night I wished to merge all that was dear to me with me so that I would never lose it.

This is what I had hoped for all along.

But reality caught up with me when I wanted to run away from it.

Soon after, my father died of an incurable disease.

But at that moment, instead of doubting these words, which I already knew to be false, I lied to myself once again and wanted to run away from this reality.

That is why I did not hesitate. Whether it was the exploration of the forest or anything else, I didn't hesitate.

But every time, reality catches up with me.

And this time wasn't different.

- - -

I could hear the war cries of Cleppe's forces in the distance. Jean had arrived with 2 other knights and about 50 elites.

Their power was unimaginable. With one sword swing, a knight slaughtered a demonic creature, and the village was saved in no time.

But what was the result?

Many elites died, like Bertrand, more than 350 villagers were dead, and even Gregoire died.

But the worst was laying before me

In the beginning, I only saw her hand lying motionlessly in a bloody pool. Then, I realized that her whole body was stained in blood, her blood. That day, my mother died.