A Howl in the Night

~ People Are Like Ants... They Always Follow Their Queen.

~ People Are Like Ants... They Always Follow Their Queen.

A purple sun is cast over dark, blood red waters, whispers of screams still clamoring to leave the horizon. A castle like a shadow lays at the edge of the lake, the color of the night. True terror is in the air, mixed with fear, pain, and longing.

A man paces back and forth in a dingy room, muttering words that should not be repeated. Bookcases stretch across each wall, a single door creating the only gap. Soft chairs as soft as silk are lying about, and a minuscule coffee table is set in the middle of it all. Only one other person is in the room, listening attentively to every sentence he spits out after a string of expletives.

"I can't believe this has happened..." the man, face unknown, turns to his companion, "I made a huge mistake."

"Everyone make mistakes," the slightly gray-haired, stubby man the size of a dwarf, does not even truly care about his predicament. However, the tall man with a veiled face is very distraught.

How can he fail not once, twice, thrice, but FOUR times in his mission? If he wishes to stay on his throne, he better be seeing more results from all these traps his servants have been dropping around the mansion. If not, his subjects will not obey him. They expect him to foil the prophecy, but he has only succeeded in helping to fulfill it.

This last attempt, though, is the crowning glory of his failures, the cherry on top of the sundae. It makes the others look like a simple game.

How could he have switched the two bottles by mistake? Sure, they were identical, and smelled almost exactly the same. But leave it to him to completely forget which one is which, and take the one that guaranteed disaster.

The veiled man, wrapped in a thick, velvety robe, continues to speak, words coming out of him like the soft flow of the harp. "I am the King," he emits, voice barely above a whisper, "but I am not worthy."

It is then that the chubby man truly comes into play. He marches over to the majestic man's side, tugging on his arm to force him to the small man's height. "You ARE worthy," he tells the man quietly, every word packing a powerful punch, "you are the only one in the entire kingdom with a true physical body. You are the only one that is free to be your own. You can do things your subjects can only dream of. Everybody wants to be you." His eyes are steady, gazing through the folds of the veil.

There is a moment of complete silence, then the tall man rises upwards. Fire is alight in his eyes, anger and determination clearly seen. "Close the gates," he commands, "no one in or out of the kingdom may bypass it. It must open for no one. Also, double our security around the kingdom. If they are ever found within the area, bring them to me. I want to gloat before I kill them forever, and with it, any chance of destruction."

"But what about... that?" the man points to a mysterious object resting in the crown the veiled man wears.

"This," he pats the crown softly, "is safe with me."

The object pulsates a glowing red on top of a wealth of rubies, electricity crackling in the thick, choking air. The tall man sits down in a rough leather chair and takes a sip from the wine glass at his side, smiling.

The next time he tries, he will succeed for sure.

My eyes fly open as I scramble out of my resting place among the tall trees and thick blades of soft grass. Which, coincidentally, is by a beautiful bathing pool that reminds me of the spa tub the pack owns at the mansion.

Or maybe it isn't coincidental.

But whatever the case, I have been getting wonderful progress on my meditation, although these frightening visions keep popping up sometimes. Is this what's supposed to happen? I haven't even conjured one spirit spear yet!