The Guardian

I dream about space goats

Maybe I was dreaming. I didn't have a lot of proof pointing to why, but the talking space goat I met kinda gave me a hunch.

Maybe I was dead and was experiencing the afterlife. Maybe everyone got a cool goat in space in the afterlife.

This could actually be happening in real time. After everything I've seen today, I can't even be surprised when something magical happens.

All I knew for sure was that I was floating in outer space, and a cool space goat with golden horns and galaxy eyes was speaking to me very slowly.

I couldn't help but think about the fact that they looked familiar. They probably were familiar, I just got hit in my head too many times to remember.

They could tell I was totally zoning out and not paying attention to what they were saying because they called my name to get me to focus again before restarting their little conversion to me.

He's a real friend for being patient enough to deal with me.

"Harlen... your path... it is clearer than ever before....... you are growing as hero... just as I predicted..."

As he spoke, my delirium started to slowly wear off. I still felt loopy, but his words pulled me back to normal the more he spoke.

"You've been away from your village... for a full day now...... once you wake... you will be reunited with your friends... and you'll be given the help you need... and deserve..."

I remembered leaving hawk tree village. I couldn't believe the sun had set and rose since I left. So much had happened since my encounter with Rosslyn, but I couldn't believe it had been a full day since then. If this was how the entire adventure would be, I'd need a lot more energy to get through the day.

"Your journey is far from over, Harlen... but I forsee your perseverance to last you very long..."

As Orion spoke, I felt my thoughts and consciousness stir. The environment around me began to fade and was replaced with the landscape of a tame volcano. The skies were a dark magenta and seemed to be fading. Green clouds began forming in the sky, and the purple glow that emanated from the volcano seemed to be dying. Then, I heard a voice behind me. It was everchanging. At first, it was a grisly voice, but slowly turned to the voice of a vibrant man.

I turned to see who was talking, but I couldn't make them out. They were a dark, changing figure that seemed as if it didn't have a shape, but I knew without the shadow of a doubt who it was.

They looked up at the great volcano with two other dark, shapeless people by his sides. His voice boomed in both of my ears as if his mouth spoke in both of my ears.

"We have a lot of work to do, fellas. I want walls, lots of walls. I want the lava bubbling through every crack of this wasteland. I want security, monsters, witches, anything you can get... but most of all... I want the giants on our side.
I don't care if they want to do their own thing. If we had giants around here, nobody would dream of coming at us."

Rosslyn's volcano seemed so docile and peaceful right now. I just knew that would change as Zyloff used his power more. Even if I was just in a dream, I knew that somehow, this was all happening. Our journey may have just started, but the longer we waited to attack, the worse things would get.

My dream began to shift again, taking me to a huge sandstone platform in the dessert sky. I could tell that the platform was floating in the air from the way the wind felt across my face and the way the landscape looked from where I stood. The air was scorching hot. My lungs burned just by breathing it in. It was obvious I was in Artlandia, and considering how familiar this platform looked, I assumed it I was somewhere important.