Recollection of a Dream (IV)

The scene faded out, and the images warped and changed to a different period of time. Winter turned to spring, then to summer. The clouds rushed by as if the world fast forwarded and accelerated to a specific time. The world was painted in lush green hues, birds chirped their usual songs, and the open field was filled with people of many different races. Most of them were water elves and humans. In between each seasonal change different events quickly played out where the small band of heroes went out on adventures.

Samuel looked stunning in his traditional elven marital clothes. He was wearing long silverish clothes that looked like a cross between Arab and traditional Japanese wedding ceremony clothes. The clothes had a simple and subtle design in green. Lilith looked beautiful in the feminine version of the traditional clothes. Her short hair was decorated with natural flowers of the earth bringing more life to her appearance.

It was a wedding celebration, and people were dressed in their respective traditional clothes, predominantly in either white or blue. Soft wind carried the scent of food as the sun slowly set, leaving a magical feeling around the place. Lilith and Samuel were surrounded by relatives and loved ones joyfully conversing with each other. Her sister was beside her tearing up, while Drake stood by Samuel talking with him.

Konnor was near the barrel of beer drinking heartily with Cello. They were competing to see who would be able to finish their share the fastest.

"Congratulations, Lilith. I'm so happy for you." Lulu had tears in her eyes. "I was worried that you were never going to get married. You're almost thirty years old."

She hugged her sister closely and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you for always being there for me."

"Noooooo. My sister is getting married." Lulu burst out crying. "I feel like a mother sending off her child."

"Hehe. Sis, you're so weird. You have Drake now. Don't worry about me. You know Samuel will take care of me."

"I know he will. He better or else I'm going to come knocking on his door and burn his tree down!"

"Sis!" Lilith chastised her. She put her hands on her hips.

"Hehe. I won't burn his house down," Lulu replied. "Maybe a little," she whispered, but Lilith caught it and glared at her. "Okay. Okay. I won't. Geez." She pouted, but stopped. "Where is little Jennie? How old is she now?"

"She's only nine months old and she's with Dion. He's been ferrying her away and taking her to strange places. Sometimes I don't see her for a whole day," Lilith said, sounding concerned. "But it's alright. He always keeps her safe. I can't seem to pry my daughter away from him even if I tried."

"Nine months already? It feels like it was yesterday that we went to the mountains and met Dion. How is he?"

"Sis, he's been a nuisance since he began living with us. I'm not sure how Samuel is able to be such close friends with him. He's always asking for blood from me and has been hitting on the local ladies." She sighed heavily. "He always seems to be causing some kind of trouble."

"Where is he now?"

"I think he went to scale the mountains with Jennie."

"You allow that?" Lulu was appalled. "Isn't it dangerous?"

"With Dion? Hardly. He always keeps her safe. The blood oath prevents him from going back on his words."

"Wow. He even took a blood oath with you. That's like an unheard thing from a vampire. I'm amazed he went through with it. It's basically his life that's on the line." Lulu stood motionless for a second, just to let it all soak in. "He's taken a liking to your family. Kind of surprising such a vampire exists. He's more on the line of a caretaker than an alchemist, and even an alchemist vampire is unheard of."

"I completely agree. I just don't understand him at all. After he arrived to the village, he went straight to look for the oracle. She wasn't there. So strange."

"Doesn't matter. Let's enjoy your wedding celebration. I'm so happy for you, Lilith. Took you a while to marry Samuel. You always had those star-crossed lover eyes whenever you looked at him. I was wondering when you would snag him." Lulu chuckled.

"How did you know?" Lilith gasped, shocked at what she was hearing. She did not expect her sister to find out so easily.

"Well, it was so apparent the first time we all met. Even I had a thing for him, but it confirmed it nine months ago at the cottage when we were sitting around at the fireplace." Lulu elbowed Lilith and sniggered. "Did you think it would pass my eagle eye?"

Lilith could not say anything for a moment; she blushed red and laughed. "Yes. I was hoping you wouldn't notice."

"It does not matter anymore, now that we are finally here and you have a child. What a surprise that was to hear such news. I fell out my chair when I heard from our news bearer." Lulu pretended to swoon.

"Sis, stop being a drama queen," Lilith joked.

"Lilith," Samuel called out and motioned her to come near him.

"It's time for me to make a special announcement. My heart's fluttering. Wish me luck." Lilith winked at her sister and gave her a thumbs up.

Lulu broadly smiled and gave her a thumbs up as well. "Good luck."

With confident steps, Lilith walked over to the middle of her guests and called for attention.

"I thank you all for all coming here. It truly is a blessing. If you don't mind I would like to start out with a poem that I found during our last dungeon raid. I thought it would be best to read it now."

"Wait, you found an old treasure text? Why didn't you tell us?" Drake asked. He was excited to hear what she had to say, and at the same time was a bit saddened that he wasn't told such information.

"It took me over a month to decipher," Lilith answered. "Samuel was helping me out with some of the ancient letters that I did not understand."

"Is this true? Samuel, why didn't you tell us about it?" said Drake. "I thought we share all information to help each other out."

"It wouldn't make sense to tell you what we got when we didn't know what we had gotten. We didn't know if it was going to be a treasure map or just some random writing," said Samuel.

Lilith cleared her throat and began reading the poem.

-Part one-

Come one. Come all.

Let's begin the fun.

Let's play. Let's see. Let's believe.

Let's build our tower of Babel once again.

To unite. To conquer. To become 0's and 1's.

Nine phases. Nine rules. Nine powers.

To find. To grow. To evolve.

To build an armor of resolve.

The wings of destiny call,

The tree of life brings to an end.

Let the Song of Infinity begin anew.

Oh woe is to us, for our heart cries out for infinity.

1111

The crowd stood speechless at what they heard.

"It's a bit out of place." Konnor walked over with two flasks of beer in his hands, swaying a little. His nose was slightly red from drinking too much.

"Same. When did you take the time to write it?" asked Lulu.

"I didn't. I was out on a dungeon exploration a few months ago and came upon it. I was so excited that I researched it with Dion and Samuel. I thought it would be a nice poem to read out to everybody during the wedding reception as well as tell you guys that this is just one of the many poems out there," said Lilith. She raised the old tattered parchment that looked partially burnt. "How do I know? Look!" She pointed at the edge of the paper at a faded number. "It has an excerpt that says 'part one.' Not only that, there have been many popular and legendary poems written by this 1111 person."

"The question comes down to why they would write such a dreary poem." Cello grunted. He was uncomfortable in his nice clothes. Truthfully it made him even more scary looking wearing something so clean. A couple of buttons looked like they were about to burst from of his chest. "It should be more about the glory of war. Not some wretched plant."

"No, this is important. The tree of life has many names. It's an old legend that has been passed down through generations and had been translated in many languages and incorporated into many religions. The old gods called it Yggdrasil. My race calls it the Eternal Protector," said Samuel. His explanation drew people's attention about the topic, making them forget for a moment what everyone was here for.

"The eternal green ash tree stands proudly, protecting the Noriene. Its green branches spread out to every corners, keeping the world in balance." Samuel began to sound like a teacher schooling his student. "The tree of life does not stop with just a tree that protects the world. There are other interpretations where the tree of life is a philosophy or a symbol rather than an actual tree. A stairway to enlightenment to become a sage, or a gateway to enlightenment. The teachings are so vast and numerous it's hard to tell what's right or wrong."

"Either way it's still out of place. I'm not good with understanding those cryptic messages. Especially on such a happy occasion like this." Konnor hiccupped and burped. "It hurts my head."

"Not really. Lately I have been researching and collecting the pages made from this 1111 person. Unfortunately, I haven't found any more parts to this poem," Lilith said sadly. "I'll definitely find the rest." She clenched her fist and her eyes sparkled with determination.

Samuel was filled with happiness, and he leaned over to give her a kiss. Lovingly he whispered, "I'll help you as well."

Lilith blushed red from embarrassment. She was not used to the attention from everyone else. She quickly tried to hide her embarrassment and get herself back on track. She cleared her throat and continued speaking.

"I wanted to thank—"

A loud bang and a flash of blinding light erupted amongst the crowd. The yells of men and women could be heard amongst the bright light.

"Kill them all! Do not leave the heroes standing alive!" screeched a female voice. Large demonic monsters rushed forward, slaying the defenseless wedding guests. Many fell quickly to the vicious large monsters, whose teeth shredded through bones and even metal. They were mutated horse-like creatures with flaming red manes and tails. Their eyes glowed green and their vicious teeth showed through their wicked smiles.

A few were able to readjust their eyes and fight back, though they staggered on their feet. They used forks, knives, spoons, and anything else they could find to fight. No one had their weapons nearby since none had expected an attack to happen during a wedding.

"It's a Nightmare horse! Watch out for their teeth!" Drake yelled. He was slightly disoriented but was able to readjust in matter of seconds. He grabbed a silver fork off the table and slammed it down forcefully in the top area of the creature's snout, pinning it into the ground. It buckled and pulled itself free of the fork, creating a large gaping hole in its snout. Drake swiftly stabbed four more pieces of silverware in precise locations that were considered deadly. The Nightmare horse stumbled and fell dead on the spot.

"Gahahahah! This is more like it. This is how a wedding should be!" Cello bellowed as he raised a butter knife and a cake cutter in his hands. It was odd to see a pirate-looking troll with one eye and bulging muscles that were about to bust out of his clothes laughing maniacally with a butter knife and a cake cutter in his hands. He was one of very few people who could make silverware look both effective and deadly.

"Quit laughing like an idiot and get them!" Drake said, busily holding the Nightmares back with a spoon. The spoon was enchanted with magic that kept it from bending or breaking. With a loud thwack in an upward motion the spoon crushed the Nightmare's leg like a twig. With a horrible thud it fell to the side, screaming in agony. Cello followed after, slicing with his butter knife and cake cutter in hand.

Not too far from him Konnor was chugging beers and throwing the empty barrels at the Nightmares. The empty barrels of beer kept them at bay for only a moment before they aggressively charged forward.

"What are you doing?" said Lulu. She did not like how Konnor was still drinking at the time of crisis. "This is how you're supposed to get rid of them. Divine Strength!"

A flash of gold light appeared around her, giving her increased strength. She picked up the full barrels of beer and chucked them at the oncoming Nightmares. Beer gushed forth from and doused the Nightmares, snuffing out their flaming hair. They stumbled.

"Noooooooooo! My beer!" Konnor gasped in horror and became sober in an instant. A Nightmare that dodged the barrel attack was upon him in matter of moments. "How could you?" he sobbed, and with an uppercut his bare fist smashed into the Nightmare's head. With each pounding punch he bloodied his knuckles and the Nightmare, simultaneously sobbing from the anguish of the lost beer as if his heart were breaking.

"You'll be fine. It's just beer." Lulu was busily throwing more and more.

On the other side Samuel was busily fending off the Nightmares with magic. The world around him became icy cold, the grass slowly froze over, and his breath became slower with the chanting of ancient magic.

"Ice wind!" Samuel's eyes opened wide, and his hands spread out towards the Nightmares that surrounded him. Icy wind blew across the field, freezing the surrounding areas and stopping the movement of the Nightmares. The ice slowly crept up their legs and spread upwards to their bodies, making them into a giant ice statues.

"Lilith?" Samuel caught Lilith running in the opposite direction of the group.

"I'll be back! Cover me, Samuel! I'm getting our weapons!" Lilith shouted. She started to rip off bits of the wedding dress while running to help her increase her speed. She gathered and rolled her skirt to make it easier to run without tripping.

Two Nightmares followed after her but were completely stopped by piercing magical ice arrows that froze them completely over. With panting breath, she arrived at the small hut where two guards were busily handing out weapons to everyone else.

"Mrs. Lilith," one of the guards called out. She rushed in to grab her friends' weapons. The hut was filled with all the wedding guests' weaponry, to be held for them during the festivities.

With fumbling hands, she grabbed what she needed, but she let out a loud ompfh as her hands slipped carrying the battle axe. It was slightly too heavy for her.

"Take the battle axe and the battle hammer and give them to Konnor and Cello. Quickly!" she ordered one of the guards. The guard quickly picked up the two weapons, saluted, and left in a hurry.

She didn't have time to dally. With all the weapons she could carry she ran from the hut. It was a difficult run, especially with the weapons in her hands and her wedding dress catching in between her legs.

As she approached, she saw that the Nightmares had dwindled down to a handful. They were being easily eradicated one by one.

"Samuel!" Lilith flagged him down with his bow and daggers in her hand.

A high-speed whistling sound could be heard, and Lilith stumbled forward confused at what had happened. She looked down and noticed her white dress was slowly turning red.

"Lilith!" Samuel yelled in horror. He rushed over to her as quickly as possible, but the world seemed like it was moving in slow motion.

Appearing before them floating with black wings spread out like an eagle was a humanoid demon, his skin as black as the night sky. His eyes glowed golden like a predator's, his demeanor like a king. He wore pure black and red armor that blazed like fire. His sword was shaped like a great white shark's teeth that could shear anybody in half. A pure black circlet rested upon his head on top of his golden hair. He stared down upon the crowd with an expression as cold as if they were insignificant bugs.

"A demon," whispered Drake under his breath.

"Kill them." The demon flapped his wings and gracefully landed on the ground. With a snap of his fingers, black portals opened behind him. He tucked in his wings, and streams of ugly humanoid creatures with black armor rushed out to combat the heroes and the remaining guests.

A soldier demon appeared before their lord and bowed deeply.

"Sir. The heroes and many highly acclaimed Adventurers are here," the deep crackling voice said with malice.

"Adventurers? Heroes? What disgusting names to hear. Who thought of these wretched names?" the demon growled with disgust. He waved his hands. "Both names are now a taboo. Don't ever bring up such foul words," the demon king decreed. "Place a bounty on every so-called Adventurer and these so called-heroes from now on. We don't need any more of these rats naming themselves as such." He spat on the ground with disgust.

"Instead bring me the six heroes' heads." The demon king pulled back his cape and walked into the dark abyss, disappearing on the spot.

The soldiers that were bowing before their king stood up. "You heard our lord. Put a bounty on all so-called Adventurers. Find the heroes and kill them all!"

The thundering footsteps of soldiers rushed outwards, overrunning the wedding celebration in a blink of an eye. The world around the small outing was overturned in matter of seconds.

"Pull back! We cannot fight here!" Drake yelled, cradling a broken arm. He knew that fighting right now was a suicide attempt. People scattered, running for their lives, afraid to get killed in the raid.

"Go! I'll hold them back!" Konnor yelled with a loud cry. He drummed his chest to catch the soldiers' attention.

The sound of dying, screaming, and clashing of swords echoed endlessly as the scene faded into black. White flashes like lightning could be seen, and the rumbling of thunder-like sounds could be heard.

The world swirled with color and faded black, then in the darkness a soft blue light appeared. A giant test tube filled with water appeared, and inside it Lilith was hooked up to different black lines. Her surroundings were too dark to make out; only the soft glow from the test tube illuminated the dark room.

Lilith slowly woke up. She could not speak, move, nor talk. Instead, she silently watched. Laid out before her were tools, herbs, and items she had never seen before. A bloodied empty table stood in front of her in plain sight.

Dion walked out of the dark and stopped in front of test tube.

"I'm sorry, Lilith. There was no other way. Everyone's gone." Dion's voice was filled with sadness. "I could not stop them."

A tear escaped his eyes, and he raised his hand to wipe it away.

"I tried. I really did. I was too late. Have I ever told you that the first time you punched me in the face was the first time I was enamored with your fierce gaze? I know this is late, but I have always loved you. I just didn't tell you till now."

Dion put his hands onto the glass. "Everything will be alright. I'll make you better." Dion's voice could be heard through the glass container. Lilith's eyes drooped heavily, and her world turned once again pitch black.

The loud bloodied cry of Lilith's voice broke apart the memory of the six heroes. It shattered like glass, each piece playing memories of Lilith past like twinkling stars. Tears of blood streamed down her eyes, making her look like she was crying from watching her past.

A clear sound of a horn was blown, waking up the players and NPCs.

"Charge!" a husky male voice called forth.