A dark field filled with blood and dead bodies is what he saw. He looks around the field and what he saw made him wonder what happened. Did the war just end? Did they win? Whose bodies are these? Thousands of questions filled his mind when he suddenly found Alviary's rotting body not far from where the Queen stood, dead by an arrow with poison. Blood freshly dripping from her back and her wings are rotting away.
He looks at the top of the hill and sees his sister, dead just like the other living gods. The others are dead as well, except for him. He drops down on his knees and cries out in vain. Where did he go wrong is what he thinks as he cries his pain. He draws his sword and places it in front of his chest; he closes his eyes, then he stabs himself.
He opens his eyes and gasps for air. He blinks his eyes and looks around him. He is back in his dark, cold room. There are no dead bodies around, no blood to spill, and no poison arrows. Salthifer was relieved when he knew that it was just a dream. Having a human compeer is hard.
For a living God, you are not allowed to have a dream or even sleep. That's their greatest rule. But if that living God has a human mage, they are excused on the said rule. He released a sigh and sits up on the bed and looks around his room.
He drops his head between his legs and heaves another heavy sigh. After that dream, he can't stop thinking of losing against the Sluagh. He can't stop thinking that maybe this war should've never happened. He can't stop thinking of what could be the possible reason that this war even started. He sighs for the umpteenth time when Sartilliane suddenly appears in front of him.
"What seems to be the problem, brother?" she asks with concern in her voice. Looking at the state of her brother now, she knows that something is bothering him. But knowing her brother, it will take a lot of patience for him to confess what is in his head. "Care to tell me?" she tries again, asking her brother is like asking the Sages for a protection potion. It will take those years to open up and say yes to any of the living gods' request.
"I had a dream about the war," Salthifer said, earning a surprised look from his sister. Never in a million years had that Sartilliane thought that her brother would open up to her. It was as if she never expects it, really. Her mouth is agape; not knowing what to say after her brother speaks up. "I dreamt of you guys dead and I am the only one who survived," he said ducking his head until it reaches his left knee and sobbed.
Sartilliane was flabbergasted by the sudden change from her brother. She never thought that she will see her brother sobbed or even the day will come when he did. Unknown with the sudden sensation of wanting to comfort him, she placed her palm on his back and rubs circle on it. Living gods are not allowed to show emotions of guilt, regret, weakness, or even love.
Such things are considered as sins to them. There are a lot of rules and regulations for someone to become a living God. Such rules were not meant to be broken or he will be punished and exiled by Sages.
"Hey, it's okay," Sartilliane told her brother as he sobs away his frustration about his dream. "It felt so real," he said in between his sobs, he leans towards his sister for support and cries again. Sartilliane spread her wings and slowly enveloping her brother with them and releasing their calming powers to help him with his acute panic attack.
She had seen such attacks before; at first, she was reluctant by them. Not knowing what are they for or what do they do to a human. But after knowing her own compeer, she had the conclusion that panic attacks can drain any creatures' energy or magic.
After a while, her brother starts to calm down, little by little, and then his head drops on her shoulder. She sighs and quietly placed her brother on the bed and pulls up the bed sheet up to his chest. Salthifer sleeps peacefully. But before she went away, she draws her hand and placed it above his brother's head. A glowing purple light came out from her hand, shining through her brother's forehead. She chants spell protection for nightmares and relieved his worry about the war. Her wings were spread wildly and her hair is flowing along with the winds from the outside. Moments later, a ball of gas forms above his head and surrounded with sparkling stars.
Sartilliane placed the ball inside a glowing golden globe to protect it from getting harm. The globe looks like a magical crystal orb that has the capacity of sucking up three gas balls. These gas balls are memories or dreams that are not meant to be shown to others. She placed it carefully, scared to break it, and then seals it with another chant.
The furrow from her brother's head begins to loosen. She smiles to herself and disappears from the room. She went through a portal back in the Seventh Kingdom then creates another one to transport to the Tenth Kingdom, where the Sages live. She went past through the sleeping guards and was greeted by Zarzagoa.
"Hello there, Golden Warrior," she addressed her; the Sages' voice is filled with glee and mockery. "Young Sage," Sartilliane greets back, bowing to her as a sign of respect. She smiles at the latter before noticing the globe that she has in her pocket. "Another human?" she asked Sartilliane while pointing to the glowing globe. Sartilliane chuckles before answering the Sage.
"Oh, this was my brother's," she said, earning a gasp from the Sage and she hurriedly asked for it. Sartilliane gives her the globe and the Sage happily skips all the way through her coven. Sartilliane had always wondered what they do to their own coven, so she curiously walks with her.
The Sage places the globe carefully in a small tripod and takes an old book from the shelf. The book immediately reacted to the globe. The Sage looked at Sartilliane with wide eyes. At first, Sartilliane was confused as to why the book reacted. But when she realized what it meant, she steps back and puts her hands up then shook her head.
"Call the princess for me, please?" the Sage requested and pushes Sartilliane out of her coven. Confused by the situation, she called the princess from her room. She knocks on the door and the princess answered. "Come in," she said in her sweet, melancholy voice. This is not the first time that Sartilliane sees the princess but she is still stunned by the sudden beauty of her.
The princess turns to her with a smile on her face. She has a pointy ear and a pointy nose, her eyes are as deep as the Caribbean Sea; their colors shine under the bright moonlight. Her hair is as soft as freshly picked cotton while it shines in a bright red color contrast, which compliments her skin tone.
She is wearing a long warm white gown with long bell-shaped chiffon flow from above the elbow. Her silver-white hair flows along her shoulders and compliments the crest on her head that belongs to her family from a long time ago. The crest has vibrant fairy wings and pearls along the strings that with it; ruffles on the side and a shining emerald gem at the center. Her crown is colored with pink diamonds and pink gemstones and placed on the top of her head, between her huge family crest.
She is also wearing her necklace that represents the names of the warriors that served her during the last war. She looked at the Golden Warrior with a smile on her face and walks towards her. "What brings you here, Golden Warrior?" she said, looking at Sartilliane with her glowing blue eyes. "The Sage asks me to bring you to her coven," Sartilliane said, not caring to bow to the princess she once served. The princess looked at her with grace then nods. "Lead the way, warrior," she addressed. Sartilliane nods and opens the door for her.
They walk along the long hallway with silence. The princess glances at Sartilliane and smiles to herself, hiding the tint of pink blush that is visible on her cheeks. Sartilliane sees the reaction and looks straight ahead. It has been a long time since she fell for someone like the princess. They are nearing the coven when Sartilliane felt a tingle in her wings. She looks behind her only to see Belevathan and her maps of strategies. "
Oh, it's just you," Sartilliane exhales, earning a giggle from the female warrior. "Here are the strategies for the war," she said, handling the maps to Sartilliane. "Have you talked to your brother recently?" she said in a worried tone. Sartilliane knew that the other living Gods felt the sudden unknown sensation that Salthifer felt earlier. Now, they are all curious about what it was.
"Yeah, he is a bit sad and had an acute panic attack," Sartilliane informs while they all just looked at her with confusion in their eyes. "Sad? What is that?" the princess asked. Sartilliane looks at them with a sigh and explains the long list of different types of sadness that exists in the human world. After that, they went inside the coven and watch as the Sage extracts the globe to use as a strength potion for the upcoming war, leaving Sartilliane with awe and amusement.