Sleep claid Eren despite his resistance. The strange energy of the obsidian chamber had seeped into his bones, lulling him into a deep slumber filled with fragnted visions—faces he didn’t recognize, battles he’d never fought, and powers he’d never wielded. In these dreams, he felt the fourteen elents dancing just beyond his reach, echoing the sensations he’d experienced during the TUNA rituals with Elena and Maria.
A ripple disturbed the surface of his consciousness. Unlike normal dreams that floated and shifted, this disturbance had purpose—intention. The sterile whiteness of their prison faded, replaced by a forest clearing bathed in moonlight. Trees with silver bark rose around him, their leaves whispering secrets in a language just beyond his understanding. The air felt different here—alive with possibilities, charged with ancient power that thrumd against his skin.
He moved forward, drawn by sothing he couldn’t na. The forest floor was soft beneath his feet, moss and fallen leaves cushioning each step. Ahead, a figure stood beside a pool of water so still it mirrored the stars above with perfect clarity.
This sensation wasn’t entirely unfamiliar—he’d experienced sothing similar once before, when Elena had reached across the veil to touch his dreams. But this felt different sohow, the magic sharper, more insistent.
The figure by the pool turned as he approached, and Eren found himself stopping short. This was not Elena. Where he had expected to see silver hair flowing down a familiar back, there was instead a smooth, bare scalp that caught the moonlight like polished stone. Upon her head sat what appeared to be an intricate miniature garden, complete with tiny trees and what looked bizarrely like actual flowing water.
"You are the Veilwalker," the woman said, her voice carrying an unnatural echo that seed to ripple across the water’s surface. "At last, we et."
"Who are you?" Eren asked, maintaining a cautious distance.
"I am Elizabeth, Queen of Vylonia." She turned fully to face him now, and Eren could see her features clearly—sharp, calculating eyes set in a face that might once have been beautiful but now carried the weight of endless vigilance. Her baldness, rather than detracting from her presence, sohow enhanced it, giving her the appearance of a statue co to life.
’Vylonia,’ Eren thought. ’The secretive woodland kingdom from the eastern scrolls. Nature and sound manipulation—and warriors with shaved heads who commune with forest spirits.’ He studied her bald scalp with its elaborate garden headdress with renewed interest.
The elaborate headdress wobbled slightly as she approached him, close enough that he could see tiny birds moving among the miniature trees. Eren fought the urge to stare at the bizarre creation.
"Your disappearance has caused quite a stir across the realms," she continued, gesturing around at the dreamscape. "And now I find you trapped sowhere even my strongest dream-magic can barely reach."
Eren studied her with asured caution. "That shaved head and living crown may suggest Vylonian royalty, but how do I know this isn’t just an elaborate deception? These are strange tis, and I’ve learned to be careful with unexpected visitors."
Elizabeth nodded, seeming to appreciate his prudence rather than take offense. "A reasonable doubt, Veilwalker. The prophecies spoke of your wisdom as much as your power." She ran a hand over her smooth scalp, the gesture almost fond. "The royal lineage of Vylonia maintains this tradition because it allows for the wearing of the Living Crown—an honor and burden passed down through generations."
She tilted her head slightly, causing water from the miniature waterfall to cascade down her temple. "Allow to demonstrate who I truly am."
She raised her hands, and the dreamscape forest around them responded imdiately. The silver trees bent toward her as if in reverence, their branches extending to form a canopy overhead. Flowers erupted from the forest floor in concentric circles around where they stood, unfurling in seconds what would normally take days. Even the tiny garden atop her head seed to grow more vibrant, the miniature waterfall flowing with greater force.
The air filled with sounds—soft lodies that seed to emanate from the plants themselves, creating harmonies that resonated in Eren’s chest.
"In Vylonia, we command the elents of nature and sound," she said, her voice carrying a lodic quality that seed to vibrate through the very air. "While most of my people master one elent, as queen, I possess the rarer gift of nature manipulation in its purest form, and can hear the songs all living things sing."
Eren watched the display with quiet assessnt. ’Her control is impressive,’ he thought. ’And matches what little the scrolls said about Vylonian royalty’s connection to living things.’
"This place," Eren said, looking around at the silver-barked trees and unnaturally still pool. "This isn’t a normal dream, is it?"
Elizabeth’s lips curved into a slight smile. "Perceptive, Veilwalker. We stand in the borderlands between worlds—a place where dreams and reality blur together."
Eren’s breath caught. "The obsidian chamber where we’re being held..."
"You’re in an ancient place," Elizabeth confird, her headdress tilting slightly as she nodded. "My dream-magic sensed you were taken to a chamber designed millennia ago, when the boundaries between elents were still fluid. Such places were thought lost to ti."
"Why have you co to ?" Eren asked, his voice steady despite the strangeness of the encounter.
Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed, evaluating him. "The last ti your people ventured into my kingdom in search of you, they found nothing. Since then, I have been trying to track your movents through dreams."
Eren tensed. "My friends ca to Vylonia?"
"Yes. Your sister Naia, the warrior Lyra, Captain Diana, young Elira, and a most interesting kitchen servant nad Rose." A slight smile touched her lips. "They left disappointed, but not before my tracker discovered you had been taken sowhere ancient and hidden. Though even she could not pinpoint your exact location."
The queen began to circle him slowly, her headdress’s miniature waterfall sending droplets cascading down the side of her face. She paid them no mind.
"What I cannot discern," she said, "is who has taken you, and why. I sense you are not alone in that place."
Eren watched her carefully. "What do you know of soone called Kaida?"
Elizabeth stopped abruptly, her expression shifting to one of surprise and concern. "Kaida? That na carries weight in ancient texts. A figure of legend, whispered about in the oldest scrolls." Her eyes narrowed. "Is she the one who holds you captive?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)