Tainted

Chapter Nine

TAINTED| CHAPTER 9

Meeting Him

When we got back to Val she was still sleeping peacefully on the couch. Apparently, Arianna had cast a sleeping spell over her, so she couldn't wake up while we were gone. She looked so calm just lying there limply. I felt a pang of jealousy rise in my chest because I had been exhausted. We'd been up-all-night sparing. I had been waiting for this moment to rest my head.

I went back to the pallet that I had made previously and within the minutes after lying down I was sleep.

I didn't have my usual blackness for my sleep that I've come to know. When my eyes had closed instead of black, I had vivid images flashing inside of them.

What I had witnessed was images of a man standing in a snowfield in all black. His face was toward the ground, and he had a hood on so there was no way to identify who he was. He had his hands in front of him pulling them away from each other. Where he pulled the air changed into a fierce blue lightening strip and I could hear low mutters of another language. The sound was like a spell. When the hooded man looked up all you could see of his face was a burn on his left eye. It was brief because he had continued his gaze to the sky. The lightning that had coursed through his fingers were now being shot directly into the clouds above us.

I looked up to them as well. The lightning that had followed made the clouds deep in color and you could see them swell up. When he had finished charging the air and the lightning had ceased from his body it had started to violently rip from the clouds.

Each electric blot shot into the forest surrounding us. It was mere seconds before you could see smoke rising from the distance. I looked back to the hooded figure, and I could tell he was looking back at me. My stomach felt uneasy with the gaze I couldn't see, but my feet reacted faster than I could think.

I had started to run in the direction of the danger. The faster I ran it felt like the more I couldn't reach him. The path that leads me to him began to elongate and he started to glide away from me. It was like he was standing still, and I was the one moving backward. The burnt smell of the trees started to get closer behind me. The flames were excited to swallow me from behind as I was chasing him down.

When the ground had stopped moving, I felt like I had begun right back in the position I was before. I was by the perimeter of the woods directly by a patch of bushes. The scenery had suddenly changed. Instead of us being in a snowfield with burning trees we were transported to a spring day. The snow on the floor melted and colorful flowers and grass had bloomed to replace it. The dark snowy clouds had dissipated as well into blue skies.

The man that was once there had disappeared into thin air and all that was left was a whisper in the wind, "When there is fire there is a rebirth."

I woke up with ice cold shots running through my spine causing me to shiver. I didn't wake up where I was sleeping before. I was in a room that was moving. It was more like a wooden cart. There was scratchy hay that laid under me covered with a wool blanket. I was also wrapped in it as well.

My eyes were groggy with sleepiness. Something about that dream felt like it meant more than just sleep. I wasn't going to worry about it for now. I stretched my limbs as much as the small space could allow and I sat up. There was a stream of light pouring above my head shining directly in front of me. It beamed straight through the thin cloth that had kept the sun from shining directly into the cab. Turning around to find the source of the light I find a small window. Standing up I walk up to it.

The sun outside was bright and the white snow reflected off it and made the day glow. Arianna was the one leading the horses through the path and Valentina was sitting beside her. Val was just looking straight ahead with a blank stare on her face. She looked like she was concentrating hard on a thought. She had on a beautiful Victorian style dress that was a deep burgundy color with gold embroidery. It had long sleeves and subtle ruffles on it. It hugged her body elegantly. Her hair was in coiled curls that cascaded down her back. Arianna was in similar attire however it was much darker mostly black.