It was quiet. The full moon hung large and low in the otherwise empty night sky, the familiar stars and their constellations strangely absent. The dead and dying branches of the sparse trees around the clearing stood starkly dark against the illuminated faces of the mountains beyond, shining with the light of the moon as its beams fell in cascades against their sheer cliffs. The howling of wolves echoed from across the sea of emerald red grass in the valley below as an unfelt breeze swept waves across the plain.
Serena shivered, sitting comfortably on a throne in front of the scorched remains of a tent. It was cold out on that night. Instinctively, she flicked her fingers and whispered an incantation under her breath, as quietly as she could. It felt wrong to violate the world's silence, for some odd reason. The faded pile of wood which once upon a time might've been a campfire caught alight in a small burst of flame, throwing the rest of the clearing into the light.
Then she began to wonder where she was. Her mind was racing halfway through the first thought when her mouth supplied: "Oh. I'm here again."
All at once, the lonely cries of the wolves, the creak of the branches, the swoosh of the grass, and the crackling of the fire faded. Serena didn't notice, though. She was in a confused daze of sorts, trying to figure out what in the world was going on. Her mouth seemed very knowledgeable on this matter, but it was remaining silent, no matter what the prodding her mind gave it.
Then another sound came through, after what felt like an hour spent sitting in the stifling darkness. She became at that moment aware of how quiet it was. Footsteps, slow and deliberate. The thing making them was trudging through the trees. A chill ran down her spine, and she tried to get up. Her body steadfastly refused. Serena could only sit and wait as the figure stepped into the quickly dwindling pool of light her dying fire provided her.
Its glowing yellow eyes came first, followed shortly by its squat body, wrapped in a dirty brown cloak. What she could see of its skin was disfigured, covered in welts and burns, but there was no mistaking the creature. It was a Tonberry. Serena stopped fighting with her body and turned her eyes, irises ringed with crimson, to match the Tonberry's. It stopped its walk, on the opposite side of the fire. All fell silent again.
It was a few uncomfortable minutes before it broke the silence. The thing on its face that looked like a mouth stayed still, yet a muffled, deep, croaking voice spoke into the night. Serena's keen ears honed into the source of the noise, which was deep within the cloak. She shivered again.
"...Home...destroyed," it croaked out. "...Scorched...purged..."
The voice wasn't quiet, and her ears were sharp. Yet she could barely make out those words. What was it talking about?
"Razed to the ground...your home," the Tonberry rasped. "Everything...gone."
Its voice picked up, growing not louder, but clearer. An extremely neutral expression crawled onto Serena's face. "Do you speak of Durakia? How can a creature like you know of that?"
Realizing she had regained control of her mouth, she chased it with more questions. "Where am I, demon? Who are you, and why do you come boding ill of my home?"
It ignored her, its voice rising. "And you! You shall hate! Hate those who have killed your Halvor! Hate those who have destroyed you!"
The breeze picked up again. No; it was more of a gale. Clouds of silvery dust flew from behind the mountains, faster than clouds should move, and obscured the moon, plunging the mountains and valleys into darkness. The ruby green grass, ripped from the earth, joined in the whirlwind. The flame in the clearing went out. Yet all was calm around the throne. The wind ripped at the cloak of the Tonberry, casting it into the sky. Serena felt a primal fear as she faced the gaping maw where its stomach had been. It moved, forming words, only snatches of which she could catch over the winds.
"Hatred will...you...blood price...kill them all!"
It was bright. Blindingly bright. The earth cracked and the mountains split, rays of light rivaling the sun's own seeping from between the uneven stones. They arced high into the sky, striking the silver clouds that had by then covered the world from horizon to horizon. Those reflected the rays back onto the surface, throwing the world into sharp relief. The trees caught ablaze, and the valley below was turned into a pyre, the roaring loud enough to be heard above the sound of the swirling tornado. The hideously deformed Tonberry too burst into flames, screaming all the while.
The throne was untouched, though. Though that, too, was not invincible forever, as it faded into a darkness closing in too rapidly.
[hr]
Serena opened her eyes, then took a deep breath. Of course it was a dream. And she had awoken into a nightmare. No dagger, no staff. Only her robe and clothing; soldiers weren't that shameless, it seemed.
She closed her eyes again and shifted to sit against the wall more comfortably. She should expect to have dreams. There was plenty to dream about, in the past few days. The tragedy with the airship, and the capture that followed. Her knife, taken. Knife...
That was it. The corner of her mouth twitched. The memory of a camping trip from long ago floated to the front of her mind. But, to think about days gone by like that was needlessly sad. She had long since lost all friends there. What did she care if her home was put to the torch?
Perhaps she did, just a bit. Serena cursed her dream again.
