Living in a Nightmare (Book 1 of the "Living Nightmare" Series)

Chapter 2

Lance couldn't see anything but darkness. But suddenly, the darkness warped and he was in a different place entirely. A place that he knew.

He was back to the time hundreds of years ago when Ceris had appointed him to his position.

"People of the End!" Ceris called, loud and clear. "I now present Lance, Ender Mage and lord of the Far Islands."

The people appluaded and Ceris looked over her shoulder at him. She didn't have her mask on and his heart raced at the way she smiled at him. He nervously stepped forward and--

Lance felt himself come back to the present. He was still a frog in the Overworld. 

His eyes opened and he found four faces staring at him. "Ah!" he jumped then glared at them. "Just because you happen to be the superior life form right now doesn't mean you can stare at me and watch me sleep!" he snapped.

"Sorry," Stella apologized. "But you were saying weird things in your sleep. Muttering things," she paused. "Something about Ceris?"

Lance groaned and rolled over. Why did his past have to start haunting him now? Two hundred years later, to boot.

"Don't worry about it," he replied. "Now do you mind not staring at me while I sleep?"

They wandered off and Lance grumbled to himself, thinking about the frown Kane had shot him before leaving. 'Trust me, Kane,' he thought. 'If I didn't have to be here, I wouldn't be.'

<>

As the days trudged on, the dreams that were actually memories from his past began occuring every night. The worst was the memory of his banishment, which had become a nightmare for him. Lance would stay awake longer and longer to avoid the memories that came with sleep.

One night, when exhaustion over came him, he had a very strange dream. He was on a rock in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight.

"Hello?" he called. "Ciara? Rain? Stella?" he paused, then yelled. "Kane? ANYONE?!"

No response but ocean waves. Lance looked down at himself. He was in his human body but he couldn't remember anything like this happening.

"Lance?"

He whipped around to find Ceris standing behind him. A cry left his throat and before he could stop himself, he ran forward and threw his arms around her. "Ceris--"

"Shh. There's no time," she pulled back to look him dead in the eye. "Lance, over the Epic Mountain and in the Lush Cave."

He blinked. "What?"

"You'll also find the key at the top of the mountain. I don't have time to tell you anything else," the edges of Lance's vision were going blurry. "Don't forget it, Lance! At the top of the Epic Mountain is the key. Find the Lush Cave on the other side!

Everything went black, and then he woke up.