CH2 - The Seer

Lily stirs in her sleep as she coughs violently. Her stomach twists in knots as she can almost feel the attack. Jagged teeth tear her flesh as her body twists in the feast.

The weight of the creatures causes the body to bend. The straining tension of the weight on her shoulders, and chest, his scream for mercy as animals climb across her.

The tatters of clothing strewn across the snow-covered scene as her warmth spreads. Her flesh flayed from the bone as the creature dragged her further into the forest. Pulls her closer to a dark cavern. The light fades from her eyes as hot tears run down. What happens in the cave, she wonders but dreads to know.

Clawing and scratching her arms in her trance Lily collapses as she yelps in pain. Squeezing her eyes tightly, she curses her gift. Never able to understand the girl's mind, to understand her thoughts. She is merely a traveler experiencing emotions. The doubt, the fear, and the abject horror that death is perhaps not the worst that can happen.

Coughing in her bed as speckles of blood cover her mouth and sheets, Lily reminds herself of who she is. She reminds herself that she is not Sera, not the muffled voice at the edge of a conscious dream. The thoughts of where Sera was headed and where she departed from still elude Lily. Yet Lily is almost as sure it is her self-preservation that withholds the truth and mutes the thoughts.

Laying in her bed, she hears the faint knocks on the exterior of her door. Sitting in her bed, Lily rings the small brass bell as an older woman slips into the room. No matter how terrifying her dreams are, she feels blessed each time her servant arrives. It is a reminder that her nightmares are just that.

Standing, Lily walks to the chair, opens the books of scriptures, and writes a few more details. She feels the tenderness of the old woman's hands as her hair is quietly braided in the morning ritual. It is the purest experience of a motherly touch. Lily appreciated it ever since she was taken from her parents as a child.

"I don't understand my dreams," Lily says quietly, allowed.

"No one ever does."

"Olivia, I am serious. My dreams terrify me each night. I have begun to learn the scent of the monsters. I never see their face. That scares me more, not knowing who or what they are. What is worse is they are dragging me to a cave. I don't know what happens there, but I am awake longer and longer. I feel my mind inching closer to oblivion every morning."

"The dreams are a blessing. They reveal the holy scriptures to us."

"Of pain and suffering. No matter what we do, we can't escape our fate. Those scriptures?" Lily asks, exasperated as she whimpers softly. She hates the dreams and the terrors that haunt her every waking thought."

"Do you control the dreams yet?" Olivia asks.

"Control them?" Lily laughs, "I barely survive them."

Olivia goes quiet as she continues to braid Lily's hair. Lily feels terrified in the nightmare, knowing she is not a part of it. She can only imagine how much more terrifying it would be to try to inhibit the body. To take on the woman's fear as her own.

"Have you, when you were a priestess?" Lily asks.

"Many times, it was truly the most terrifying when I didn't do so."

"I can't imagine anything more terrifying than believing I am her. Truly believing it in a lucid dream."

"You find it more comforting to be without power?" Olivia asks a question that shocks Lily to her core. No, it would be horrifying to know that only misery exists night after night, that your life is destined to be one thing, a constant act of service against your will.

"Why would you ever choose to live this nightmare?"

"I see it as hope."

"Hope? All it is is pain."

"You will find the answer in time; I have faith in you."

"Do you know?"

"No."

"It seems you know something that I don't."

Olivia nods, "I know my truth."

"Is it written? Please show me."

"It is not."

"Why not?"

"I discovered it after you were born."

"Please, I must know."

"Who do you follow in your dreams."

"Olivia, I have always followed the girl."

"Where does she lead?"

"To death, always."

Olivia stands and, without another word, leaves the cabin room. She is leaving behind some bread and salted meats. Picking up her meal, Lily pauses and wonders if the window in which she eats plays any effect on controlling her dreams. Lily wishes that Olivia would share her secrets. Lily is sure that she can be trusted with the mysteries of old.

As Olivia dips her head back in, she carries a pouch of leaves to prepare her morning tea. Olivia starts a small fire by placing wood and kindling in a wash basin. The methods, while simple, have a beautifully graceful beauty to them. A mesmerizing mixture of leaves and colors as the loose-leaf tea twists within the bubbling waters.

"Do you ever dream?" Lily asks.

"I do."

"Do you dream of the young girl?"

"We all dream of her. Every child does as well when they reach the age of wisdom. The scriptures speak of a time that our bodies rather than our nightmares determine our age of Consent and Marriage."

"Consent? Is there such a thing?"

Olivia shakes her head as she pours the water into a cup and walks towards Lily, "Consent? In a way, it does. It is the fathers who consent to who the husband shall be. It is his choice that is final."

"Is that consent, though?"

"It is in the scriptures," Olivia answers as she hands Lily the herbal tea.

As Lily drinks it, she feels a calmness wash over her. "If it is in the scriptures, perhaps I can change it."

"Perhaps you shall, but the reasoning must come from the visions for the village to see the reasons why. To change without your dreams influencing their own is a death sentence. As it is written, it is seen that if a server casts out the scriptures for her own sake, she is banished. Condemned to the service of the Guardian."

Lily shudders at the mention of its name. The Guardian is an ever-present and watchful eye. Where death is seen as a transcendence to a more incredible world, the longevity of the Guardian's life is a damnation of its cruel and twisted soul. In the scripture, true salvation is found in the Oracle, the giver of life.