Page 11 of A Legacy of the Light

Deciding to reply in the morning, I set my alarm and switch off my lamp and drift off to sleep.

I sprint down an old stone passageway that’s cold and smells of damp soil.

I’m being hunted.

Fear like I’ve never known is a heavy weight in my gut. If I get caught, I will die in this cold place. I hold hands with a beautiful woman who can’t be much older than me. Her dark brown hair whips out behind her as she runs as fast as she can.

But she’s heavily pregnant, and constantly glances at the ground to make sure she stays on her feet. I feel protective of her, despite not knowing who she is, or what the hell is going on.

A crash rumbles behind us.

The frightened woman screams, almost dropping the torch she’s carrying. I urge her to move faster, taking the torch from her trembling hand.

More people join us in the underground passage with looks of shock, pain, and fear on their faces. Some are covered in blood, and some are laden with bags slung over their shoulders. Soldiers and servants and ethereally-beautiful people in elegant clothing all run as if their lives depend on it.

We aren’t going to get out.

The thought clangs through me, and the footsteps of those chasing us get closer and closer. These people need a chance to escape.

I slow my pace, turning to the soldier who appears on my other side. His face is covered in blood and dust, rendering him almost unrecognizable, but there’s a familiarity to him that tugs at me.

“Get them out,” I whisper. He hesitates briefly before nodding tersely and hurrying the others to follow him.

I turn to face the unknown enemy advancing on us. Stopping in the narrow passageway, a group of soldiers dressed in dark armor round the bend as I raise my arms in front of me.

My heart races, and I dig deep into a well of power sitting in the middle of my chest. Blinding, brilliant light cascades from my chest and leaves my upraised hand in a powerful blast.

The stones tremble and groan around me, cleaving the air with a huge boom. As the dust clears, a pile of stone and earth, brought down from above, creates a blockade between the people behind me, who I know I will protect with my life, and the oncoming forces.

Knowing there’s nothing more I can do, and that this won’t hold them back for long, I race to join the others.

Weakness pulls at me. My pace slows and fear clogs my throat as I push all my remaining strength into my legs. I don’t make it far before I’m surrounded by warriors dressed in all black and heavily armed.

They must have found another way through.

They launch themselves at me all at once. My vision starts to fade as dark, cloying shadows ooze from their bodies, crawling across the ground and up the stone walls, muting and dulling my power and my senses.

This is how I die. But at least the others will survive. My life was worth the sacrifice.

I jolt upright in bed, sweat covering my face and neck and my heart racing, breath rattling in and out of my lungs.

It was a dream. Only a dream.

It felt so real. It felt like I was living it, that I had to protect those people and there’s an empty feeling in my chest where I’d felt that power just moments ago. I flop back onto my bed and check the time.

2:34 a.m.

I slip out of bed to try and dispel the looming fear the dream brought on. After shaking my arms out in the bathroom, splashing my face with water, and having a quick drink, I feel a little calmer and climb back between the sheets.

Thankfully, after tossing and turning for half an hour, I tumble into a dreamless sleep that takes me to the very depths of unconsciousness.

My alarm hurts my head. I feel as though I’ve been out drinking for three days straight and everything is groggy. I reach over to knock off my alarm, my hand brushing the nightstand.

Where is my fucking phone?

I’m not a morning person, and my alarm is enemy number one right now.

I sit up with my eyes closed and rest my feet on the floor—a hard stone floor that definitely doesn’t feel like the velvety soft rug I have next to my bed.