"I saw death. My death in my dreams."
Adele took a breath to calm his panicked breathing, as he slowly repeated his words to make sense of the dream he had just seen. He rapidly tried to recall more details, more visuals of his dream but like sand slipping from the clenched fist, he was rapidly losing memories of his nightmare.
David stood with a visible frown on his face, at the end of his bed. His eyes were carefully scanning the surroundings of his nephew who had just seen a nightmare and then woke up with a scream that had brought him in a hurry to his room. David was just about to sleep himself but his panicked scream shook him into action instantly.
Now as Adele was trying to recall exact details of his dream, David was instead sensing something else entirely.
"I was killed…by the dagger, stabbed from behind in my chest. A swift death while I was….while I was… while I was doing what? I…was.."
Adele rubbed his forehead with an increasing sense of loss, like he had lost something very valuable but couldn't recall anything more than that.
He had forgotten.
Just as Adele accepted this grim fact, he found his Uncle thinking something with a serious look on his face. Adele, who was just about to crack a dark joke to lighten the mood, found his words stuck in his throat. His Uncle soon found his questioning gaze and waved his hand noncommittally.
"Don't worry about it. Dreams are sometimes more than simple dreams, especially for us. But you don't have to worry. You still haven't walked even once in the Dream realm so there is a fat chance that this dream meant anything more than that. Moreover I was just checking there was no signs of Corruption here so further no proof that Dream realm really connected to you.
So just relax. Once you become a Dream walker, if there is any deeper meaning in this dream then it will surely repeat. We have plenty of time to think about it. It's just a regular nightmare, nothing more. By the way you said something about seeing a date in your dream? What was it?"
Adele thought for a second and then said confidently,
"It was October 15th, I think."
"Hmm, so today is 26 June. It's still months away, we have time to investigate.
Though very probably it is just a simple dream, I will still check it out in Umbra with others. If anything I will not hesitate to ask for help from leaders too. "
Adele waved goodnight to his Uncle as he fell back to his bed. Though his uncle looked disturbed, in reality he wasn't that temsed by such a dream. For the first thing, he didn't feel any pain during that death, only some fear. It was like he was watching some out of body kind of experience, maybe that's why he was not that worried.
On the other hand, as soon as David reached his bedroom he locked the door behind him and then sat down with a frown on his face. His wife, who was a heavy sleeper, had just woken up after everything had already passed, but she still asked him about what happened?
"It's probably nothing and I may be just overreacting. But it has given me some wake up call on our sense of action regarding Adele's safety."
"Huh, what is wrong? What happened?"
David didn't hide anything, and told her everything. He expected her to be anxious but she just waved her hand in a sleepy manner,
"You yourself said Dream realm still has no direct contact with him. It hasn't even registered him even once with his presence, how could it mean anything? This is just a scary dream, nothing more."
"I want to think so too, Mercy. But.. " He took time to reconsider if he really wanted to share his inner thoughts but then relented knowing that she was now his wife and he should be able to lean on her. He can be vulnerable with her. Thus, told her everything that was plaguing him from inside,
"Mercy, I am not actually worried about this dream. I checked that there were no shadow residuals near him, which means no corruption from Dream Realm.
This incident was really nothing but what if…but what if in a thousandth chance it is an indication of something he is completely unprepared for. Adele is still just a feeble human with nothing to protect himself from the supernatural dangers of his world. He doesn't even have what normal people have as protection that is ignorance, he is completely aware of this world but in return as completely unsafe too.
I think… I will not wait for Umbra to accept him anymore before starting his training of Shadow Weaver. Atleast…. "
"No! " Mercy sat up from her lying position and expressed her staunch rejection clearly. "I will not allow you to do that. It is too dangerous. Without Umbra, you will just be risking him into jaws of death in your attempt to teach him something. "
"Mercy, but it is important. We can't.. We shouldn't wait anymore. He is f*cking 19 and needs a way to defend himself and if not that, at least a method to escape with his life. Shadow Weaving or Dream Walking will provide him at least that. This world is not safe…you know that."
Though he very much wanted Mercy to see his reasoning instead she got further irritated with his logic. It was like an epitome of why women live longer to her. She was not able to wrap her mind around the fact that why his husband was not able to see danger associated with it. Mercy inadvertently raised her voice a little in annoyance.
"THAT IS EXACTLY WHY I AM SAYING THAT YOU SHOULDN'T DO THIS. The world is dangerous and one accident…David, One little accident and he can be hurt seriously or gone forever. It's not like you don't know how dangerous the Dream Realm is."
"SO YOU WANT HIM TO LEARN NOTHING. HOW WILL HE PROTECT Himself? And I will be with… "
"That's it. 'We' will protect him, David." Mercy slowly hugged his arm to calm him down as she realized that they were making each other tense up unnecessarily when discussion could be held normally.
"And I am not saying 'no' to him learning Shadow Weaving. But we should wait until… We can ask Umbra… "
David shook his arm from Mercy as he reminded her of the detail, the very reason behind this whole discussion with her,
"Didn't I tell you? Umbra is not ready to accept him. They are still waiting… "
"We can push a request to Umbra higher-ups personally. We can make them realize the gravity of the situation."
"Mercy.. Mercy.. They are taking too much time. Every time I hint them to take Adele in, they refuse saying that he was still too tender to join and learn Shadow weaving. They want him to be at least 20 years old before teaching him anything. Sometimes I feel like they are actively avoiding taking him in."
There was a little stretch of silence as both parties sat in, thinking hard about this and why the other was not able to see their point. Ultimately the silence was broken by David who announced his decision in the tone of finality like he would hear no more opposite opinions on this matter any longer.
"I was trying to wait before but today's silly nightmare had made me realize the error of my ways. Mercy, accidents don't wait for us to make preparations. They happen anytime and in the supernatural world, we humans are already one step from death every moment.
I am taking him to learn Dream Walking right now. I had already taught him theory before, it is time he learned practical. It is final."
He stood up and tried hard to stop himself from saying anything that he will regret later but in his irritation was not successful in keeping his mouth shut,
"He is 'MY' nephew Mercy, and I am responsible for his safety. Don't stop me…please."
As he walked away while grabbing the car's key on his way, it was Mercy's turn to get angry. She got so fumed up in just a few seconds that instead of arguing back, decided to stop completely. Just after leaving a last sentence to his back, before diving back to sleep.
"Wow, wow, Mr. DAVID. So you are saying that I am not his Aunt at all and I have no responsibility for his safety. Well then have it your way then. I will not be talking to you and him about this issue anymore. Do as you please and run straight into the f*cking hell for all I care. Good night and drive safe. "