…would be a miracle.
VYNSIEL
It felt like a dream.Though, if it was, it was one of those far-too-real and terrifying dreams, a nightmare. Izzy fought with everything she had, but it wasn’t enough. Valnea shouldn’t have been able to overpower her, but she was.
I ran, a dead sprint, to the woman I loved, but something held me, slowed me. It was like running through molasses, the air thick around me. Must be those damned sylphim.
The more I ran, the farther away Izzy seemed to get, that was the truly horrifying part, and what seemed most like a dream. And yet everything else around me was far too real. Our forces fighting and dying, the campus grounds soaked in blood. We’d expected to be overwhelmed and outnumbered, but… the reality of it was daunting, spirit-breaking.
But I wouldn’t give up, wouldn’t let my spirit falter.
Then Valnea punched into Izzy’s chest and pulled out her still beating heart.
My heart stopped for an instant in horrified dismay.
“No!” I shouted, but I couldn’t reach them, couldn’t help, couldn’t do anything!
Izzy collapsed, far too still, and I waited for the echo of her death to billow into my spirit and crush me truly.
But it didn’t happen.
Something was wrong.
I couldn’t deny what my eyes were seeing, but my spirit didn’t flag, didn’t waver, wasn’t filled with loss and pain… which meant somehow, Izzy was still alive.
It made no sense.
And that disjunction broke the hold on my mind. I saw the battlefield as it truly was, Izzy still alive and fighting, though beaten all to hell and not looking good by any means. My friends struggled, minds overwhelmed and defenseless as they were attacked by elves. I couldn’t see Koar, had he escaped?
“This one’s mind is strong!” a sylph hissed nearby.
“No, his spirit is strong, his mind is still weak, focus!” another said.
And even as I tried to reach them…
The dream returned.
Yet, as much as I knew it was a dream, I couldn’t escape it, couldn’t stop it. Again and again, I watched Izzy die, and every time my spirit rejected that reality, knowing she was still alive. But the dream would only start again, stretching out, me running so slow and unable to reach Izzy as she fought then inevitably died.
It was the most hideous thing, ripping apart my mind.
I had to keep striving, keep fighting, resist. It was the only way to break this cycle of vicious visions. My spirit strained, pushing hard to keep me going, keep me sane… but eventually even it would falter.
And I had no clue how to break from this dreadful nightmare before that happened.
AMARHUK (ROOK)
I knew what was happening,but I couldn’t stop it.
The limited mental powers I’d gleaned from Hana only worked against her. She couldn’t break my mind… but other sylphim could, especially a whole host of them working together. I sensed it, felt the vision take me, even as I tried to shake it off and fight… but I couldn’t.
Or… had I?
Fuck.
I couldn’t tell what was real anymore. I was still on a battlefield, still fighting for my life against elves and sylphim and more, but… was this the true fight? Why would the sylphim make me see something so close to reality?
This had to be real… right?
