Dreams

In his dream, Will ran.

Trees and shrubs whisked past him in a grey blur, the sky an ominous glowing red. He’s wearing leather armor, with sword and shield in hand, the Royal crest on his shield and breastplate - a White Stallion on a lightning blue background.

He charged through the forest with no seeming direction. But he’s not alone, behind him he hears, or more - feels, the presence of something… almost like a Shadow, displaced from any physical object and desperately hungry. A Hunger that must have begun to fester many eons ago, for it seems that should it catch Will, it would devour him completely, mind, body and soul, gone in an instant.

Will ran on, though his lungs felt as though they may burst, and his heart beat out of his chest - he knew, should he falter he would be destroyed. Despite his best efforts, he felt the Darkness gaining apon him bit by bit - and just as he swore he could feel a cold and sickly wet breath on his neck – the world lit up in White.

Will collapsed, as all of his senses seemed simultaneously overwhelmed with the brightness and intensity of the light and noise. His blinked rapidly, his vision swimming with stars - but he could see now, a Rider, mounted, clad in shining metal, sword raised. And from the tip of his sword, beams and rays of light shining outward, at once banishing the Darkness that had pursued Will. But he could not keep his eyes open for another second, filled with a sudden exhaustion, he lay his head back on the roots and earth, and was gone.

He woke with a start, his heart racing, sweat dripping from his forehead. He sat, breathing slowly, glancing around his room anxiously, peering into all the shadows. But they were few, for light streamed in from his window, warm, friendly sunlight, dappled through the tops of trees.

He pulled off his covers, and saw that yes, he did have a long, thin wound on his leg.

“So it wasn’t all a dream…” he noted, mostly to convince himself.

Will dragged himself from bed, and lazily pulled on a shirt, undergarments and pants, fastening his belt around his waist.

He entered the main room, the fire was well and truly out by now - but other than that, nothing seemed to have changed, the house sat. Empty and still. And even more empty as Will fastened his sword to his belt, and stepped out into the sunlight, imbued with purpose in his step. He needed to speak with the Mayor, figure out why the Goblins kidnapped her, find out where his Mother ended up last night, and also speak with Amber, she might have heard something last night as well…