Airess didn’t react, as if she couldn’t see or hear what he was seeing. It was in this sickening moment he realized this spirit, or demon, was dreamwalking.
The demon lifted a finger and pointed backwards, beckoning Taryn to follow. Unwillingly, his body followed, both of them transcending time and Fate as they moved through planes, Taryn’s surroundings flashing by him.
All too fast they came to a halt. Taryn was finally standing upright in the dream world, his feet planted on the ground. He looked around and found himself still in The Twins, that same familiar forest all around him. There was a pond of black, murky liquid beyond. Two identical trees, larger than the rest, were nestled next to each other at the pond’s edge.
The skin on the identical trees began to stretch, bulging out until a body came out of each, breaking the thin membrane. Two mangled beings crawled towards him on all fours at an alarming speed, both of them looking identical to the demon that ripped him out of his body.
Taryn’s scream tore out of him as he turned to run. How did traveling work here? He wished he knew more about dreamwalking, how to defend himself and control where he could go. He tried envisioning somewhere else to go, tofreehimself from this place, but his efforts were in vain.
Nothing worked.
His body came to a stop, an invisible force halting his steps and forcing him to turn around. The beings slowly stood up, growing to a height taller than he was, that same blanket of hair covering their faces, their appearance identical. Taryn stared at them, something clicking in his mind. His jaw dropped at the realization.
The Twins.
They walked closer to him. He tried to scream, but his voice had been muted entirely, his body stuck still as if he were in paralysis, forced to look at the demons as they both reached for his face with mangled hands.
When their knobby fingers touched his face, the whole world flipped upside down.
Taryn tumbled through the void, no longer in the forbidden forest but suspended in the stars. His raspy yell was all he could hear as he flipped upside down over and over. Then, his surroundings were suddenly solid, the starry space gone as quickly as it came.
Taryn stood in front of two beings running through a field of onyx salaroses, hand in hand, sprinting as if they were crunched on time. One was a male Elve, his white hair cropped, a golden crown upon his brow with a ruby gemstone ingrained in the middle of it. He wore a long, heavy robe the color of crimson, cream rope acting as the belt. His clothes were outdated, as if they were ancient fashions.
Taryn was struck by familiarity when he took in the other female, a pureborn Fae. She shared his bronzed skin, her brown hair falling down her back in a thick braid, silver threads woven into her hair. The Fae wore a similar robe the color of emeralds, the fabric flowing behind her as they ran.
Taryn mindlessly followed the two, as if in a trance, feeling so drawn to them he didn’t think twice as one foot moved after the other in effort to keep up.
Finally, they stopped running. They panted for air and gathered themselves, stopping at the edge of the cliffside.
Taryn’s eyes widened at the familiarity. He could no longer deny the significance of whatever this place was. It was that same field of wild salaroses nestled by the cliff, only this time, he could see land in the distance where the aurora wall had blocked the view in his previous dream.
The Fae female straightened her spine and spoke with a kind smile.“I think we are far enough, Evyen. Why did you want to leave so urgently?”
The white-haired male mirrored her smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes as he loosened his grip on the Fae’s hand. Evyen’s gilded eyes softened.“Tinyrah, I figured it out.”
“Figured out what?” Tinyrah, the Fae female, asked cautiously. Tinyrah’s kindness melted away from her face, replaced with worry as Evyen slowly pulled out something from his robe pocket. Out came a cloth splattered with blood, concealing something beneath it. When Evyen opened the cloth, he revealed a crystal dagger engraved with an unfamiliar language, also smeared in crimson.
Tinyrah took a step back.
“As you know, I’ve been searching for the Allpower–”
“Evyen,” Tinyrah shook her head in denial. “What did you do?”
“I’ve found a way for us to be together, to create a world undivided. Nyrah, I did it.Iunlocked the Allpower,” Evyen lifted the dagger up harmlessly in emphasis. “It's imbued in this dagger. We can–”
“What. Did. You. Do.” Tinyrah said harshly, her voice laced with pain as she took another step back.
“You know what I had to do.”
“I–I don’t believe this! You told me weeks ago you gave up on accessing the Allpower. And now you –” Tinyrah’s eyebrows creased, tears welling up in her eyes. She spoke again, her voice softer, barely a whisper, “I can’t even imagine what you must have done to get this kind of power. You lied to me.”
This time, Evyen’s gaze hardened as he lifted his chin in pride.“I know you don’t understand, but you will in time. Today, this dawn will mark a new age. We can create a world we both want to live in. Think about the future, Nyrah. Our legacy will carry on through generations. This is so much bigger than just you and me.”
Evyen wiped the blade clean of the blood that hadn’t yet dried. Tinyrah protested, marching towards Evyen and gripping his wrist.
“Stop this. If what you say is true, you already have enough power to be feared for a lifetime. This idea of… creating another world is meant to be the work of a God. Not you.”
Evyen’s head turned slowly towards Tinyrah, a wildness in his eyes Taryn hadn’t quite noticed before until now, “Is that not what we are Tinyrah?”
