Illusions

Misha sprinted away from the screams. It was a trick of the forest he was used to. Lead someone away from where they needed to go. Though, the forest wasn't quite so aggressive last time he had been here.

He ran straight through an illusion of a spear-throwing Vanala, and deftly avoided an invisible tree. He slid to a stop in a clearing. Sally was frantically swiping at some attacker, though Misha could see that there was nothing there. He grabbed one of her wrists and shook her from her reverie.

"Sally! Stop, they aren't real."

The harpy's eyes focused on him, and she looked around in a daze.

"Misha, what's going on?"

"It's the forest, it's trying to trick us!"

"It's felt so real. Misha, we gotta g-"

Mid sentence, Sally vanished, as did the rest of the forest. When the illusions were finished, he was standing in a grassy field. Standing maybe 30 steps away, was Vanala. Or at least, another illusion of her.

"When are you gonna learn? I know your tricks! You can't actually hurt me."

"Oh yeah?"

She closed the two of them in a split second, and her foot slammed into Misha's temple. Misha pushed himself back to his feet. He reached for his dagger, but his belt was gone, daggers with it.

"No, that's impossible. You aren't real."

"Do I feel like an illusion?"

She aimed another kick at his mid section, this one he evaded.

"No, she would have killed me already, or would already be dragging me to Thesa."

"You're smarter than you look, Sathis."

The illusions shifted, now taking the form of Sally. But not Sally as she was. This Sally had a red line across her throat, and her voice was thick as blood seeped into her throat.

"You let her kill me. You couldn't stop her. Now she wears the crown. Now your people suffer!"

"No, I'll stop her. I'll save you! I won't fail."

"Oh, but you will..."

The illusion shifted again, and before him stood his mother, the queen of Thesa. Her long flowing robes were tattered and singed. Her face was dirty with soot. She was bleeding from several places.

"You ran, Sathis. You were supposed to lead them, but you gave her the crown. You've damned us all."

"I can fix this! Please! Why are you doing this to me?!"

His mother disappeared, replaced by Stephanie. Or, at least, an emaciated version of her.

"You didn't come. They just let me starve. It took weeks. For weeks I suffered. You were supposed to save me."

"I will, I still have time. None of this has happened yet!"

The illusion shifted 1 last time, now Misha looked at a copy of himself.

"We'll fail. You know it. She's stronger than we are. She'll win, she'll kill us, and she'll kill everyone we love. You know this."

"ENOUGH CELIA."

The voice comes from behind him. A bored looking girl, maybe 12-13 years old, was standing there.

The illusion collapsed into a cloud of smoke in a loose humanoid shape. When the cloud spoke, it was airy and whispery, with the sound of many voices speaking over each other.

"Lady Tempora, I- I was just-"

"I really don't feel like hearing your excuses. Get lost, before I tell Bast you've been interfering in my prophecy."

"Yes, ma'am, I'm so sorry."

The cloud of smoke vanished, and Misha found himself standing in the forest again, with a very confused Sally, and a very peculiar pre teen.

"Yo, Misha, Sally, we need to chat."