five years ago;
Lothar got back after a terrible night of hunting. he has been running away from a humongous minotaur, it was far stronger than he anticipated, it almost killed if he had not cut its tendon. its speed and strength were far greater than his, the only advantage he had over it was his defense and amazing constitution but that wouldn't help him win a fight unless he just wanted to take punches
fortunately, although all the gods have turned away from him, lady luck still kept him company and he was able to flee without getting interrupted by annoying 'obstacles'
and after running for hours, he found a narrow passage between the walls that could only fit an adult male. he immediately crawled in and as he passed 5 meters inside, he heard a large bang indicating the minotaur is trying to follow him into the small passage
luckily for him, an hour later, the beast stopped trying to break the unshakable walls of the cave and went back to its business
but Lothar didn't dare to get out yet, it was better to be cautious than sorry
he has been meeting a lot of intelligent beasts lately, none of them had the intelligence of a human, but they still knew more than to just fight with their muscles
anyways, Lothar decided to spend the night in the small space
so after exhaustion hit his body, he fell asleep
unbeknownst to him, the small space he crawled into was the home of a creature that haunts people's dream and turn them into his puppets
..
Lothar felt his back turning damp and a breeze trickling his face
he slowly opened his eyes but immediately closed them when he saw a glaring light
his heartbeat quickened, his nose that stopped working a long time ago picked up an unfamiliar pleasant smell
he opened his eyes and stared at the clear blue sky
his eyes became moist as he chuckled humourlessly
this is one cruel dream
he lifted his hand and rested it above his heart, feeling the vibration of the constant beating
but I miss this
he lifted himself and assessed his surroundings, trees and bushes were all he could see for miles
he got up and started walking aimlessly touching the soft leaves between his scared fingers, smelling the flowers, and digging his hands into the moist earth
this feels.. so real he smiled softly
" even if this is a dream, I want to enjoy it as much as I can before I wake up''
he kept gobbling everything in, memorizing every twitch of a branch or whisper of the wind when suddenly he heard an all too familiar bark
he turned around and caught a glimpse of a white fur ball sprinting towards him
his legs couldn't help but shake, the moist eyes shook fiercely as he observed benny barking happily and rushing towards him.
the heart inside his chest tightened and he almost fell out of breath, his smile immediately turned into a wide grin as he opened his arms, falling on the ground
" benny!" he cried as he hugged his little furry friend
the puppy's tail wagged happily, his big beady eyes looked into other's moisty ones
" i-i'm so sorry benny, i-it's all my fault"
his fleeting joy turned to grief as he remembered how the red smoke left benny's body in the real world
" This is truly a horrible dream" he sobbed and
buried his head inside benny's fur making it wet with tears
the wolf's tail stopped waggling
" i-i k-kill- oh gods..."
benny suddenly bit Lothar's arm and barked angrily
''ouch!''
the man let go of the puppy and glared at it through blurry vision
the wolf barked again at Lothar, leaving him in complete confusion
'' what's wrong with you now?"
the wolf puppy licked the tears that stained the man's face
" ah... you never liked it when I cried, did you?" he smiled softly as he petted the puppy's head
"I don't want to cry anymore either benny.. but how can I not when I have nothing left?''
the wolf whined softly and turned around rushing out of sight
Lothar quickly followed him not paying attention to his surroundings anymore
he finally stopped when he saw the most beautiful sight he ever saw in his life
a large waterfall, a river connected to it, and flowers of different colors and smells fluttered around beautifully, majestic birds flew around chirping sweet tunes, and a soft breeze
set the mood perfectly
the whole image looked out of a fairytale and Lothar couldn't help but stop in super
the puppy dragged him by his pants towards the river and pushed him in
Lothar didn't even take off his clothes. he jumped in and swam around, feeling the cold water wash away the heaviness in his heart.
he swam towards the base of the waterfall and stood underneath it.
closing his eyes, he let the water falling trickle down his head
the puppy looked at his human swimming peacefully and couldn't help but bark joyfully
the man opened his eyes and looked at the far away wolf
but the look in his eyes showed how tired he was, a look that spoke volumes about the life he led
" This is not a dream," he said monotonously
"I would never dream of something this beautiful and peaceful. I don't even remember what something 'beautiful' looks like.." he continued and swam to the shore. he looked back for the last time at the beautiful waterfall and got out of the water
he walked towards benny and kneeled in front of it
a few tears left his eyes as he looked at the puppy with an angry expression
" Who are you and how do you dare use benny's face?"
the wolf blinked a couple of times, his head tilted in confusion before flashing a chilling grin, his long canines twinkling under the sun's bright light
..
[so he realized without my help..]
..