Ellie drifted into sleep reluctantly, her mind tugged between exhaustion and the itch to draw that had burned in her chest since she returned from the park. The room faded away into the dark void of slumber, but her consciousness remained tethered to something else, something pulsing faintly, like the glow of embers in ash.
She found herself standing in a forest, the air heavy with a faint iridescent mist. The trees were impossibly tall, their trunks shimmering as if carved from liquid silver, and their leaves emitted a soft bioluminescent glow. The ground beneath her feet was unfamiliar but comforting at the same time, a carpet of moss so soft it felt like stepping on clouds. Everything around her pulsed with an energy that resonated deep in her chest, like a melody.
Yet, the familiarity was unsettling. These trees, the soft glow of the leaves, even the cool whispers of wind brushing against her skin, she had seen them before, sketched them in fleeting moments when her hand moved on instinct rather than her imagination or thoughts.
The shadows moved unnaturally in the corners of her vision. She turned sharply, but nothing was there. The whispers began, they were faint at first, like the rustling of leaves, but grew steadily louder, forming fragmented words she couldn't quite decipher.
"Who's there?" Ellie called, her voice trembling despite her attempt to sound firm.
The forest answered with silence.
As she stepped deeper, the sense of being watched intensified. Her heart pounded, but curiosity propelled her forward. Her eyes were drawn to a figure at the edge of her vision—a silhouette that stood apart from the shimmering forest. It was humanoid but indistinct, its edges blurred and shifting as if it existed in multiple dimensions at once.
"Hello?" Ellie's voice was barely a whisper, caught between fear and wonder.
The figure didn't respond. Instead, it raised a hand, a hand that seemed both skeletal and luminous, and pointed toward her. The motion sent a ripple through the air, and for a moment, the forest seemed to exhale, the trees bending slightly towards her as though trying to engulf her.
Ellie took a step back, her breath quickening. The whispers grew louder, almost urgent now, surrounding her like a cocoon.
"Ellie..." The voice wasn't hers. It came from everywhere and nowhere at once, and it froze her in place.
The figure vanished, dissolving into the mist. Before she could process what had happened, the dream shifted abruptly.
The Court of Crystals
Ellie found herself in a grand, crystalline chamber. The walls shimmered with colors that shifted and swirled like oil on water, and the air hummed with an electric tension. Tall, otherworldly figures surrounded her, their forms translucent and glowing, their faces indistinct and undeniably stern at the same time.
Ellie stood at the center of the room, her hands trembling as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. A podium rose before her, towering and sharp-edged, as if carved from frozen starlight. Behind it stood a figure larger and more imposing than the others, its voice reverberating through the chamber like the toll of a giant bell.
"The Veil has been breached," the figure declared, its tone heavy with accusation.
"I don't understand," Ellie stammered, her voice barely audible against the oppressive weight of the room.
"The Veil was your charge, Dreamer," another voice said, this one softer but no less commanding. It came from her left, where a smaller figure watched her with piercing eyes that seemed to see through her soul. "And now it is undone."
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Ellie's panic bubbled over, her voice rising.
The crystalline figures murmured among themselves, their voices blending into a low, resonant hum that seemed to vibrate through Ellie's bones.
The larger figure raised a hand, silencing the room. "Ignorance does not absolve you. The breach has awakened the Nightshades, and their hunger will consume all if left unchecked."
Before Ellie could respond, the room erupted into chaos. The crystalline walls fractured, sending shards flying in all directions, and the figures dissolved into beams of light that flickered and faded.
A piercing scream tore through the air, pulling Ellie back—
Awake in Fear
Ellie bolted upright in bed, her chest heaving and her skin damp with sweat. The scream lingered in her ears, but the room was quiet, bathed in the pale glow of her bedside lamp. She pressed a hand to her chest, willing her racing heart to slow.
The whispers hadn't left her. They echoed faintly in the back of her mind, threading together words she still couldn't grasp.
She rubbed her temples and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "Get a grip, Ellie," she muttered to herself, though her voice sounded far from convincing.
Her eyes caught the sketchbook on her desk, its edges illuminated by the faint light. The dream's images burned vividly in her mind, the glowing forest, the crystalline courtroom, the figure that had accused her. Her hands moved before she realized what she was doing, pulling the sketchbook into her lap and flipping to a blank page.
The pencil in her hand felt like an extension of her body, moving swiftly, almost instinctively. The lines came together in a flurry, forming the rune that had hovered at the edge of her consciousness since she woke. It glowed faintly in her memory, its intricate loops and angles pulsating with meaning she couldn't quite decipher.
As the drawing neared completion, a sudden chill swept through the room. The air grew heavy, pressing against her chest, and the whispers in her mind grew louder, more insistent.
A shadow moved at the corner of her eye.
Ellie froze, her pencil hovering above the page. "Sophia?" she called, though she knew her roommate wouldn't answer.
The shadow shifted again, coalescing into a shape that was darker than the room itself. Two pinpricks of light emerged within the darkness, glowing faintly like embers.
Ellie's breath caught in her throat. The thing was watching her.
It moved slowly, deliberately, stepping closer with an unnatural grace. Ellie stumbled back, her sketchbook falling to the floor.
The whispers became a roar, filling her mind with words she still couldn't understand but could feel; urgent, commanding, desperate.
The creature lunged.