The Shadow Under The Willow Trees

I see myself walking down a narrow hallway. Nothing surrounds me, yet it feels like eyes are stuck to my skin.

The walls of the hallway press in around me, their surfaces slick and cold, as if damp with sweat. The air hums with an unseen presence, prickling my skin like the gaze of a thousand invisible eyes.

My mind feels disjointed, pieces of information missing. Walking is all I know—a mechanical motion that keeps me tethered to this strange reality. Is there any purpose to it, any end to this endless corridor?

There's a suffocating feeling of being watched. Every second I try to stop, pins and needles shoot through my legs, as if warning me to keep moving.

It feels like torture. What am I doing? Why am I doing this? The hallway stretches on forever with no end in sight. I'm alone in this place, cold and exhausted. When I look back, there's only nothing that greets me, and my body creaks with the effort of turning.

The walls start to contract, the passage tightening. The air entering my nose is icy.

Someone finally speaks:

"Meaningless."

Is this meaningless? What am I doing?

"Disgusting."

Who? Me?

"Vermin."

The hallway dissolves, its walls turning into mist and ash. The floor beneath my feet vanishes in an instant, leaving me to float before gravity pulls me back, along with the cold sting of reality.

I gasp for air; the sound of my breathing is the only thing filling the silence of the small room I'm in. My throat feels raw, and my body is so heavy it aches.

I press my hand to my face, the remnants of the dream still clinging to me like cobwebs. I remember everything, then forget, a vicious cycle that continues to torture me.

The scent of lingering fear permeates the air. I can feel my magic discharging every other second as I try to shake off the unease from the dream. It proves difficult and stubborn, haunted by the thought of not waking up from that nightmare in time.

Would it have swallowed me?

I reach to the side to grab a glass of water, completely forgetting that I do not have a glass prepared nor a bedside table, leading to me falling off of the bed with a loud thunk.

The loud sound of my grievance results with King waking up and checking to see if I was okay. The white baby bear still looks groggy even as he sniffed every part of me to check for injuries, but he was relentless.

The pain of falling on my face still stings, but I laugh at King's adorable display of plopping down on my lap and immediately falling back to sleep. I give him a little kiss on the forehead before standing and placing him back on his own bed.

I stroke his head when he starts fussing, gently caressing his soft fur in place. This continues for a few more minutes before he finally settles down and snores happily. It was difficult to pull away, his cuteness always getting the best of me sometimes.

When I looked out from one of the windows, the sky was still dark. The wind was blowing softly from the other side, with the leaves of trees following its direction. Clouds moved slowly, barely letting in any more light from the moon, creating a dark shadow around each building surrounding the inn.

I crack open one of the windows, letting some of that air flow inside to release anything that might indicate that I had a hard time sleeping.

The smell of earthy fields reached my nose, reminding me that spring is right around the corner.

"Since I won't be going back to sleep, I should do that 'quest', huh?" I say to no one but myself as I stretch and warm up in the middle of the room.

The quest in question was a simple one. Its requirements are to hunt about twelve to thirty wolves in the middle of the night. The number varies with how long I leave the quest be after it refreshes after a day. The rewards are average, but I think I have found a way to milk them if I implement a new skill that I just recently mastered: butchery.

I still can't get over how the quest starts, though. It's only until recently that the image stopped appearing in my dreams along with that stupid hallway.

Without anymore dilly-dallying, I start preparing all the basic necessities I would need to complete this quest. It didn't take too long; I've memorized each step like it's the back of my mind. I worked like a well-oiled machine going through the motions.

Knives? Check. Rations? Check. Extra Clothes? Check.

I gave King a good-bye kiss before leaving the room, making sure to close the window again and put traps in the room for anyone trying to come in uninvited.

After everything was complete, I left and locked the door with a special lock on top of the one that the inn provided. When I tug on the lock and it doesn't budge, I nod and walk away. Nothing should be able to get inside without waking up King; he should be able to do the rest of the work without me.

Downstairs was empty. While the upper floors were like apartments, the downstairs worked like a local tavern. It was usually full at this time of the night, but the newly built tavern on the other side of town must be funneling traffic from this one.

It's good for me because they're going to have to bump the prices down if customers are coming less and less.

Since nobody was here, most of the candles around the room were unlit. The only source of light comes from upstairs or the counter, where the shopkeeper was standing guard rigidly.

I take a sharp breath in, mentally preparing myself as I bring out the wooden tablet to my room.

"I'll be back by sunrise," I say.

He was unmoving for a full moment, staring off to the entryway as if waiting for a customer to barge in so he could have an excuse to ignore me.

This always happens. If it weren't for how cheap each room costs per night, I would have already moved to the next village over. I slide the tablet closer to the man with a heavy sigh; there was no point in trying to get his attention.

Just as I was about to leave, he called out.

"Where's the bear?"

"Sleeping."

"You're really leaving the bear? If something happens, don't expect my staff to be merciful."

I clench my jaw. Really? "Yes, I'm leaving the bear. Is that an issue?"

He stares at me. Dark blue eyes assessing what probably looks like a deep scowl on my face. I can feel the cold judgment emanate from his mana in the air, broadcasting his displeasure.

"If there is, then I can take my business elsewhere."

He huffs sharply, his long arms coming to cross over his chest. He looks taller now, the glare in his eyes more pronounced, but despite that, his voice was quieter than it had been before.

"There's nothing to be worried about, Lady Willow. I was simply making sure just in case anything bad happens. My apologies if it came off the wrong way."

His words don't sound sincere. It feels like he was reciting a boring script from the back of his head. It's enough, though. I need his room; he needs my money. He doesn't have a choice who or what lives in those rooms unless they pay him.

I nod at his words and leave the inn.