Half of What I Could Be

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I was always a fan of dreaming. I had a strange affinity to still regain my sense of touch, feeling, and occasionally taste while in the sleep world. This dream was no different. It was the smell of burned flesh that I first noticed. When my eyes came too, I could then make out the black marble floor beneath my bare feet. Cold marble floor. Almost colder than ice.

At first, I thought the walls were decorated in a mural of the underworld: Brimstone, flame, magma pouring out of distant surfaces. Yet, the little figures moved around in the distance. That was when I realized it in fact was not a painting, but that this room had no walls.

Four large posts, black in color, held a ceiling up. Besides that, there was nothing separating the edge of the room from the steep drop that awaited my line of vision if I teetered to the edge. Which I wouldn't do. The room... Was it a room? Was large. It reminded me of a throne room as the only piece of furniture littered on its barren floors was one large cathedra. Just like everything else, it was black. The back of the chair was accompanied with granite like jutting spikes. If someone sat in the chair, it would look like black rays of light around their head.

On instinct I took a step forward. It was as if my body was on autopilot. My body knew what it had to do. I did not try to fight it. At that point, my mind was sluggish enough that it did not care. Every foot step felt like I was embedded in a cloud. Beside the cold surface, it was delicate, almost velvety. It did not take long before I was face to face with the throne.

Up close, it was much larger than I anticipated. It could easily seat two grown men. I squinted my eyes, as if I could see a part of the throne I missed prior. Nothing changed beside the growing need for me to touch it. I lifted my limp arm and started its descent forward.

Just as my hand was about to make contact, someone grabbed my shoulder, "Now now little wolf, no need to be greedy. That throne will be yours one day soon enough," snickered a deep, raspy voice behind me.

The voice did not scare me. It was familiar, comforting. I turned around slowly to behold the man in front of me. His red eyes bore into my matching pair, "I know father."

And then everything went black.