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[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

September's Kingdom of Dreams

Chapter 10

She struggled against the stranger's firm grasp and tried to scream, but his gloved hand muffled every sound. Then suddenly she heard a whisper right behind her.

"Stay quiet if you want to live."

She froze and heard footsteps approaching. The stranger pulled her further into the darkness of the forest.

Suddenly the commander in white armour appeared where she'd stood. From up close he looked entirely unremarkable, a man of average height and weight with short blonde hair and greenish blue eyes. His hands were bloodstained.

"The blind one was coming from here," he said. "The dreamer cannot be far."

September felt her heart racing under her raincoat. What had they done to Diol?

Behind her, the stranger crept further into the overgrown brambles. He was shaking.

"Doctor Hallafeen, she could be anywhere," a Nightmare said, appearing from the battlefield. "There's no use in trying."

Hallafeen growled a little. "I don't like being bested."

"Should we kill the others?"

Before September could react the stranger wrapped his arms tighter around her, trapping her in his iron grip.

Hallafeen hesitated, then shook his head. A thin, cold smile played on his lips. "I quite like them. They've shown remarkable strength...let them live. Tonight is not the night, but I will return and discuss a possible...allyship with them."

"All right." The Nightmare returned to the battlefield.

Hallafeen stood still for a moment. Then he chuckled and left.

"Sorry I scared you," the stranger whispered into September's ear. He had a lisp. "I heard him coming and acted on impulse. Please don't scream when I take my hand off your mouth."

Suddenly September could breathe again. She turned her head and found herself face to face with...a scarecrow. A completely regular scarecrow made of brown fabric and straw, with green glass eyes and a row of stitches across the bridge of it's nose, wearing an old green flannel and dungarees, which was nothing out of the ordinary, but suddenly the scarecrow gave her a smile. Human teeth appeared behind the fabric.

September flinched and his smile disappeared. He quickly let go of her and raised his gloved hands, as if to calm her down.

"Please don't freak out, I'm not here to hurt you!", he whispered.

September was hyperventilating. She pressed her hands on her mouth to muffle the yelp that was about to escape her lips.

There was worry in his glass eyes. "D-do you want me to give you a moment?"

She swallowed hard. Then she lowered her hands and took a few deep breaths.

"Jesus!", she finally uttered. "Sorry. Sorry, that was rude."

He waved it off. "I'm used to it. Listen, we gotta get away from here as fast as possible. Do you trust yourself with that?"

September nodded. "S-sure."

He smiled, a little more hesitant this time. "Great."

***

They reached the edge of the forest by midnight. Stars stretched across the vast sky above the cornfield.

"Okay but I gotta ask," September began. "Who are you? Why are you helping me?"

"The name's Bubak." He traced a blue flower growing on the side of the field. Then he glanced up at her. "Originally I was supposed to lure you to Mantis' castle by pretending to be nice and earning your trust, but honestly, I'm conflicted."

"Why?" September raised an eyebrow. "You don't strike me as the kind of person that supports Mantis. So what is it? Does he have something in his hand against you?"

He stopped and turned to look at her. "Hallafeen promised to tell me where I came from." His voice broke. "Said he knows. I'm a revenant, you see, and I've lost... basically all my memories from before. I don't... I don't remember a single thing. No friends, no family, not even my name. It's just vast emptiness."

"But are you sure he's going to keep his promise?"

"Not really," Bubak admitted. "But it's my only chance."

"But why do you need it? I mean..." September took a deep breath. "You obviously don't like what you're doing, and I highly doubt he treats you fairly, so why make your life a living hell?"

"I don't know where to go," he admitted quietly. "I hate Mantis. I hate him so much. He just...goes around, doing nothing but hurt people. He's awful. And when I try to call him out he threatens me. I mean... I try to help where I can. Smuggle prisoners out, do my job bad on purpose...but... it's just so bad, you know?"

"When will he tell you the secret?", September asked.

Bubak hesitated for a moment and bit his full lip.

"When you're captured," he finally admitted and sagged. "I really don't want to do this, I absolutely don't, but I just don't have a choice."

He let out a small huff. "Anyway. Care for a rest stop?"

***

September woke up in the blue hours of dawn, her head in Bubak's lap. He was leaned against a rock, his green glass eyes mirroring the stars above.

She shifted and sat up. "You're still awake?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I guess."

"Aren't you tired?"

Bubak shrugged his narrow shoulders. "No, I don't sleep."

"In general, or...?"

"In general."

"Oh."

"Sleeping must be wild." He leaned back. "You just chill and do nothing and you wake up refreshed??"

September laughed. "I don't know how it works either." She tilted her head. "Since we're exchanging questions anyway, hypothetically, what would happen if you took your gloves off?"

Bubak tilted his head in response. "Hypothetically, what would happen if you took your skin off?"

"I...well, actually I have no idea-"

Bubak nodded and grinned. "So do I."

"Oh. Okay."

He shrugged his narrow shoulders. "I haven't tried to be honest but I've cut myself a couple times and it hurt so I'm not sure whether I want to try."

"Oh ouch." September yawned. "How far is it until Mantis' castle?"

"A day or two." A soft breeze ran through Bubak's straw hair. "I'd be faster alone, but unlike you I don't really tire, so..."

"Oh, how charming."

"I'm doing my best. If I'm sending you to your doom I might as well give you a pleasant final journey."

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

September's Kingdom of Dreams

Chapter 9

The stars shone through the trees, throwing a pale light onto the path leading back to the ruins of the city. Diol and Vitna were on their way, both lost in thought. The quiet tap-tap of Diol's staff occasionally interrupted the silence.

Somewhere in the dark treetops a moon owl called. Diol pricked his pointy ears up.

"Someone's in the forest," he noted.

"It's probably the princess returning to the campfire," Vitna mumbled. A gust of wind blew her black hair out of her narrow face. "I can't think of anyone else who'd be here."

"True." Diol stretched and yawned. "Ugh, I could use a good night of sleep."

"Me too. Watch out, you're about to walk into a tree."

He reached out and his slender fingers blindly touched the tree's rough bark. "Oh, that was a close one. Thanks."

For a while they walked in silence. The crickets chirped and the trees rustled in the warm summer breeze.

"Why don't we just let the dreamer leave?", Diol finally asked. The wind played with his wavy white hair.

Vitna glanced down at him. "She's human."

"And what about it?"

Vitna narrowed her black eyes. "Diol, have you forgotten what the humans did to us? What they did to you?!"

"Look, Vitna, I don't know how to explain this but it's really not hard to forget somebody burned your eyes off when you can't fucking see. What I'm trying to say is, I don't think that just because she meets for example the resistance she'd do the same. The humans have a whole lot of different problems at the moment."

"Human is human. Do you want to see Sle Ulan being attacked again?"

"Not exactly."

"See?"

"No, I don't, that's the point." He laughed.

Vitna groaned in annoyance, but she had to smile. "You're impossible."

And suddenly, Diol froze. He paled and clutched his staff.

"What is it?", Vitna asked.

He turned his head. The wind blew his hair out of his face, revealing the scarred top half of it for a moment.

"Somebody's attacking the city," he whispered. His voice was shaking.

***

The panicking screams and harsh commands were audible from far away. Balls of light and flames illuminated the gruesome spectacle and in the middle of the inferno of fighting silhouettes stood Doctor Hallafeen in white armour and smiled.

"Why are they here?!", Vitna whispered. They were hiding in the bushes, watching in horror. "Logically nobody should know about the city!"

Suddenly Diol flinched. "September."

Vitna realized what he was thinking and grabbed his arm. "No. Nonono, forget it, you can't go in there, the Nightmares are going to kill you!"

"Vitna, we were the ones keeping her here! If this world loses it's dreamer that will be our fault and ours alone!" His voice was trembling. Vitna swallowed hard.

And suddenly, he jumped up and ran.

"DIOL!!", Vitna screamed and tried to grab his sleeve, but before she could, he was gone.

Diol had some trouble finding his way in the crowd. He knew the ruins well enough not to run into their moss-grown walls, but now they were swarmed with people. Something sharp ran across his chin and he felt blood trickle down onto his throat. Then someone grabbed his hair and pulled it with full force. Diol screamed. White lightning exploded at the tip of his staff and he smelled burned flesh. The grip loosened and he could continue running. Finally he felt the familiar marble of the brokedown palace under his fingers. He sprinted up the stairs and into the dark hallways.

"September?!", he yelled. His voice echoed through the corridors.

A thin voice answered. "What's going on?!"

"Listen, you need to get away from here immediately-" He broke off the sentence. "Actually, where are you?"

She softly touched his shoulder. "Right here."

"Ah." Diol turned to where he presumed her to be and reached out to grab her arm. The plastic of her raincoat rustled under his fingers. "Listen, the Nightmares are here to find you. I don't know whether any of the rumours are true, or if you're just good at pretending. But what I do know is that I definitely don't want you to end up in the dungeon of Calderia." He gently shook her. "Go. Hide, somewhere far away. This world isn't a dream, it's a nightmare, and you deserve something better."

"But what about you?!" Her voice sounded helpless.

Diol smirked. "We'll be fine. We know how to fight. Now hurry up, hide in the woods before it's too late!"

She nodded, then realized he couldn't see it. "Okay." Suddenly she gave him a quick hug. "Thank you."

He heard her hurried footsteps fading away. Then she was gone.

***

September was running through the darkness. The screams from the battle were echoing through the forest and she was out of breath, just trying to get away...

...and suddenly someone grabbed her from the back, covered her mouth and pulled her into the shadows.

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

September's Kingdom of Dreams

Chapter 8

The sun had set behind the hills and darkness was quickly falling over the small camp. Crimson was somewhere dramatically staring into the distance like the tragic heroine she liked to frame herself as, Canis was out looking for her, and Val and Grey were sitting by a miserable little campfire and waiting for something exciting to happen.

Val yawned and flopped backwards into the dry grass. "Ugh. It's been literal years and we're not getting a single thing done. It's always just a lot of waiting, and occasionally hiding from the Nightmares. This is boring."

"True." Grey landed next to her. "The last exciting thing that happened was that we got attacked by an angry moon owl last week."

"You did a fabulous job startling it even more when you started screaming."

"That was a war cry."

"Sure." She booped his nose. "I'm sure that the point when you fainted was part of your battle plan too."

"I'm an unconventional fighter." He turned his head to look at her. "Speaking of, what do you think about the rumours about a new dreamer?"

"Not much," Val mumbled. "It just doesn't make sense at all. A new dreamer would be ten, not older. Plus, we don't know what happens if a dreamer dies before their time. It's never happened before. If you ask me, there's no dreamer anymore, and there never will be."

Grey raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that because you don't want to face the possibility of someone doing what your mother did?"

Val hesitated. "Possibly." She chose her words carefully. "I don't know. She always told me stories from the other side, of how I had a half sister there, and of all those wonderful, utterly bizarre things - can you imagine, they have elephants! Those things are only legends here. And...I dunno, it feels like as if someone succeeding her would never live up to what she was like. I don't think I could accept a new dreamer, even if there was one."

Grey was about to answer when he heard a twig crack in the shadows. He jumped up, startled.

Val chuckled and sat up. "Scaredy cat."

"Better safe than sorry." Grey's doe eyes raced through the forest, searching for the source of the noise.

Val got up on her feet, walked over and gently cupped his narrow face. "Hey. Hey. Everything is fine and we're safe."

He chuckled nervously. "Don't mind me, just being an anxious hooved mess."

Val laughed. "My anxious hooved mess." They kissed.

Another cracking twig, followed by whispers, made them jump up again.

"Look, no way I imagined that," Grey commented in a shaky whisper.

"Yeah no, I heard that too," Val whispered back. "Somebody's definitely here."

"What's that?!"

A white ball of light had appeared between the trees. It swirled around the clearing, like a curious insect.

"That's not a firefly, is it?", Grey whispered.

Val shook her head. "Nope."

The light abruptly got bigger, before suddenly deflating and returning into the shade, leaving the couple on the clearing confused and freaked out.

***

The ball of light gently floated back into his slender grey palm and he closed his fist.

"They found out," Vitna said. Her voice was quiet and husky.

Diol chuckled. "They really got a scare just now, I don't think they want to venture deeper into the forest."

"No wonder, considering you ran face forward into a tree."

"That's the tree's fault, he should know I can't see by now." Diol groaned. "My foot fell asleep. Can you help me up?"

"Sure." She grabbed his arm and pulled him up. Even standing straight he only reached up to her shoulder.

"Are we going back?"

"Sure."

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

September's Kingdom of Dreams

Chapter 7

September woke up in the dead of the night, shaking and sweaty. She stared wide-eyed at the ceiling, until she realized that she was safe. This was her bedroom. It had only been a dream.

She sat up and rubbed her brown eyes. Another one of those dreams. The same forest, the same strange lights. But this time, she'd seen people. Or rather...no, they couldn't have been human. But she knew why they'd seemed familiar.

She jumped up, walked over to her shelf and grabbed volume six of the Queen Nauria books. Finding the right page was easy - she'd read these books so often she knew them word by word.

And then she stared at the illustration, a grey-skinned, beautiful creature with six slender arms and dark hair. September recognized it's face. It was the woman she'd dreamed about.

"What the fuck?!", she mumbled.

***

The Hill of Peace was a quiet place. Many years had passed since the massacre of Tewüs dre Chärswez, and the people living on the border, many of which had still witnessed those gentle beings, had built a memorial on the hilltop. Surrounded by softly glowing desert flowers, a statue of snow white marble was standing there, glimmering like embers in the setting sun. It was the only thing left of what had once been an empire.

Canis arrived the top of the hill and bowed, almost tripping over her own feet. "Your majesty."

Princess Crimson of Calderia was sitting on the dry grass, a beautiful girl of seventeen years. The red evening sun made her short blonde curls and silver armour glow like they were on fire. She was wearing a red glove on her left hand, covering the silver prosthetics that had replaced two of her fingers.

The princess turned her head a little. "Hello Canis. You know I hate it when you call me that."

"Sorry." Canis landed next to her and yawned.

"Anything important you had to tell me?", Crimson asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not really." Canis shrugged her shoulders. "Except..."

"Ah, there it is." Crimson smiled a little. A rare sight. "Except what?"

"There's been some rumours, going from sirens over the pirates over the humans living by Nior Ase - I'm saying this so you know they're highly unlikely - that there might be a new dreamer."

Crimson furrowed her brows. "Elaborate."

"Some people claimed to have seen a girl who used all that slang from the other side, the typical stuff you don't hear anyone except dreamers say around here. And her clothes were...off."

"How old?", Crimson asked. "She shouldn't be older than ten, that was when the last dreamer..." She didn't finish the sentence.

"Rumours say not much younger than you or Val."

Crimson shook her head. "Canis, that's impossible. There is always one dreamer, and they're reincarnated when the previous one dies. And that was ten years ago, not more."

Canis shrugged her shoulders. "Don't shoot, I'm just the messenger. I think it's just rumours."

"I'd keep an eye on it."

"Sure."

There was a moment of silence, during which Crimson plucked one of the softly glowing flowers on the hill. She glanced at it, before tossing it aside with a sigh.

"There used to be giants living here," the princess mumbled. She glanced at Canis out of the corner of her eye. "Have you ever seen a giant?"

Canis furrowed her brows. "I'm not sure... maybe, when I was a child. Us shapeshifters never really interacted with anyone else. We tend to keep to ourselves."

"They were magnificent." Crimson's voice was as soft as a feather. "Their art, their music, their architecture...their capitol was a wonderland, it was like stepping into a fantasy. City of Stars, that's what everyone called it. Gems and glass at every corner...it was beautiful. And at the same time they were never arrogant or stuck up, always gentle and willing to help..." She sighed. "Then the Nightmares attacked."

Canis bit her lip. She already knew what was coming.

Crimson's voice was hoarse when she continued. "They slaughtered everyone. Men, women, children. A little girl, six maybe, made it to a farmhouse at the border and told them everything. She died just a few hours later."

Canis swallowed hard, unsure what to say.

"Lord Gardan and a group of other aristocrats came to the capitol. The streets were black with blood. There were dead giants everywhere. The king and queen were dead, the servants ripped to pieces...they never found the prince."

"Was he a friend of yours?", Canis asked.

Crimson's lip quivered. "My closest."

"Do you miss him?"

Her voice cracked. "Not a single day passes when I don't."

They sat in silence for a while. Canis was unsure what to say.

"Sometimes the prince's wyvern comes here when the evening dawns," Crimson whispered. "It's still waiting for his return."

As if on cue they heard a roar echo through the desert. Canis shivered. The world was big and terrifying, and she was just a shapeshifter with anxiety issues who'd joined the resistance. An ant in the streets of Somnium, or maybe lost in the dunes of Tewüs dre Chärswez, where the bones of the giants bleached in the merciless sun and the ruins of cities told of forlorn glory.

"Keep an eye on that dreamer thing," Crimson noted while getting up. "I'm gonna go check on Val and Grey."

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

September's Kingdom of Dreams

Chapter 6

The next few days for Grey consisted of fever dreams, pain and screams. In the end, he was lying apathetically on the cold stone floor, waiting to die. His eyes were burning, his entire body was full of sore, infected stitches and he was terribly weak. There was no escape, just pain.

But suddenly the door opened.

Grey didn't even bother to look up anymore. He knew that it wouldn't mean anything good anyway.

"Grey?", the guard said. His voice was raspy.

He glanced up a little and saw a black cloak with a hood, covering the stranger completely.

"Get up," the man said, his voice cold.

Grey tried. He stumbled and fell over, hitting his head on the wall. He was about to break out in hystery again when suddenly he felt someone helping him up.

"Hold on to me," the stranger whispered, his voice far softer than before. A lisp shimmered through. "And try to make it sound like I'm dragging you away forcefully."

Grey clutched the hooded man's arm and finally managed to properly get up. He gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Come on!", the man abruptly yelled at him, his voice harsh again, and Grey's hooves scittered over the stone floor.

"Please-", he begged. It wasn't hard to sound desperate, not in the state he was in. Everything hurt.

The man heaved Grey's arm over his shoulder and supported him on the way through the dark corridors. Grey stumbled, trying to get his balance back, and the stranger gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. His gloved hands didn't seem to contain the slightest bit of warmth.

When they were far enough from the castle, the man finally pulled his hood down.

A scarecrow!, Grey realized in sudden surprise. He was in too much pain to be scared for now.

The stranger had brown fabric skin and green glass eyes, with a long row of stitches stretching across his face. His hair was a wild mess of straw. But when he hesitantly smiled at Grey, he could see human teeth, shimmering white and large.

"Can you stand?", the guard asked. He had a slight lisp.

"I-I'll try." Grey's voice was hoarse. He carefully let go of the stranger's arm and took a few shaky steps. "S-so far so good."

"Good. Listen." The scarecrow took a deep breath. "You're going into the Moon Forest. Straight forward, down this path, and don't turn back. The resistance is hiding there, they'll find you."

"But..." Grey was looking for words. "What are they going to say to...this?!"

"I don't know. Everything's better than what Mantis and Hallafeen are planning. They want to create mindless slaves to do their work, so they're testing every single way they could get what they want. You don't want to know what the hell they've done to the rest of the prisoners that arrived with you. You're not safe in Calderia anymore - not that you ever were, but you get what I mean."

Grey stared at him. "Why did you help me?"

"I don't know," the stranger admitted. "I just felt like I should."

With that he disappeared in the shadows.

Grey walked down the path, still slow and stumbling. After a while he spotted a small lake on a clearing.

He hesitated, then stepped into the crystal clear water. The burning stitches under his clothes cooled down and he groaned a little when a wave of pain rolled through his body.

Then Grey fearfully glanced down at his reflection and shuddered. The eyes of an animal stared back, framed by dripping long black hair and thin antlers. The freckles on his face had turned white like the spots of a deer. The realization that he was no longer human hit him with all it's might, and he felt sick.

And suddenly, something rustled behind him. Grey jumped and spun around, and found himself face to face with an equally startled girl. She tripped, cussed and landed in the water. Five seconds later she was back at the surface, staring at him in bewilderment.

"Jesus, don't fucking scare me like that!", she cussed. "I almost got a heart attack!"

"S-sorry?" Grey was completely stunned.

The girl shook the water out of her dark braided hair. Then her red eyes widened. "Oh God damnit, I was supposed to threaten you and ask whether you're a Nightmare. Aaaand my sword sank to the bottom of the lake." She glanced up at him. "Why are you so goddamn pretty, huh?? Ruining my entire shift, just what are the others gonna think of me...man, hang on a second, I gotta dive down and get my sword, those things are hard to replace-"

With that she disappeared under the surface.

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

September's Kingdom of Dreams

Chapter 5

"We are not yet able to create life from scratch, but we are able to use an old spark of life and bring it back in a new shell." Doctor Hallafeen's thin lips curled into a smile.

"You mean...?" Esmond raised his eyebrows. The sides of his body were hurting again and he hugged himself in a futile attempt to calm his nerves.

"Revenants. A full reset in terms of personality and memories. They know nothing about their old self and can be programmed to do anything."

Esmond frowned. "I thought revenants are something you can't replicate."

"Oh, no no no." Hallafeen chuckled. "Sometimes they come naturally, but it's a rare case, and pieces of their old self remain way too often. Take Bubak, that useless scarecrow."

Esmond chuckled, just to please the doctor. The small movement caused him to sharply inhale from the pain.

He had to admit, he didn't know Bubak very well, but from what he'd seen the revenant was smarter than most of the Nightmares thought he was. Bubak was masquerading, and Esmond respected that. He remembered how one winter the cold in the dungeon had caused his phantom pains to abruptly worsen, and Bubak had just wordlessly handed him the sweater he was wearing now. The sweater was a perfect fit, and Esmond realized that Bubak had knitted it just for him. The small gesture had touched him.

"I have perfected the process. Clean, quick, guaranteed results." Hallafeen's voice sharply brought him back to the present. "Zero own free will, zero moral judgement, zero hesitation. Perfect for any job too boring or disgusting for a sentient being to do." The doctor clapped his hands twice. "Bring her in."

Two Nightmares appeared from outside the laboratory, dragging a prisoner with them. A young woman, not much older than Esmond. She had a black eye and her purple curls were messy and sweatily stuck to her forehead. The alb shuddered when he realized what was going to happen to her.

"What's your name?", Hallafeen asked.

Her voice was shaky. "S-Syllie."

"Excellent." Hallafeen smiled, a thin smile that didn't reach his eyes. "From now on, your name will be R-1. Do you understand?"

She wildly shook her head. "What the hell-?"

"Strap her onto the table," Hallafeen commanded. "We're going to have a lot of fun here."

***

While the girl's hysterical screams died down and were replaced with Hallafeen's sharp commands Esmond wandered further down the corridor until, inevitably, he ended up standing in front of the last cell.

The bars were wide enough for him to slip through. Immediately he almost bumped into the massive, softly glowing arm stretched out in the cell.

He couldn't tell whether the prisoner was asleep or awake. After all, he was blindfolded and gagged, shackled with dozens of chains. No escape, no hope. He was never going to leave.

"Isen ud chwa?", Esmond finally whispered. He hadn't spoken Ereis in a long time. All the giants were dead. All except this one.

"Are you awake?", Esmond repeated, this time in Somnish.

The giant shifted. He was young, younger than Esmond himself.

"I brought some sunlight," the alb whispered. He pressed his palms against each other until a golden light burst up between them and filled the cell. After a few moments it dimmed down and just a few glowing embers were left, quietly sinking to the floor.

Esmond felt tears of shame rising to his face. Then the phantom pain hit him in a wave and he gritted his teeth.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I wish I could bring more, but I don't have all my powers anymore. That's the best I can do."

The giant's skin was glowing a little more now. He shifted again and softly growled.

"Listen, they're trying to break your spirit, but you have to be strong, okay? You'll get out of here, just don't give up."

The giant hesitated. Then he nodded.

"Listen, I have to go again, or they'll be suspicious of me. But I'll come back." Esmond's face was hot with shame.

From the other end of the dungeon he heard Hallafeen's sharp voice, a ghostly echo in the silence. "What is your name?"

A lifeless, cold voice answered. "R-1."

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

September's Kingdom of Dreams

Chapter 4

BODY OF 37-YEAR OLD HIKER FOUND IN CAMPING TRAILER!

Nancy Baker was reported missing two weeks ago. Now, with a devastating result, the search has come to an end. Mrs Baker's body was found in her camping trailer in the Alaskan woods. She was determined to have died of internal bleeding two weeks ago, although the cause of those is currently unknown.

Mrs Baker was an aspiring fantasy author, whose Queen Nauria trilogy had great success within the past years. She is survived by her husband, Mr Mark Baker, and their five year old daughter September.

***

His entire life, Mark Baker had been the most normal man anyone could ever think of. Anything he'd ever wanted was to live a happy, long life with his family.

But that normal was over now. Nancy was gone and left him with a few new housemates. Uncertainty. Worry. And worst of all, silence. The house had never been so quiet before.

September was staying with her grandparents while he was settling all the paperwork around Nancy's death. There were bills to pay and documents to fill out. Losing a part of your heart was expensive. It took a toll on you, both emotionally and financially.

It was late in the evening and the sun was setting over the house in the suburbs. Mark was in Nancy's study, sorting the remainder of her writing. So many unfinished stories, stories she'd never tell.

And suddenly the telephone rang.

It took a moment for Mark to realize what was going on. For a few seconds he stared at the phone in utter confusion. Then he realized he should probably pick up the call.

He reached out and shivered when his fingers touched the cold black plastic. It was an old phone. Nancy had liked old things.

Then he took the call.

"Mark Baker, how can I help you?"

A rough female voice. Nancy's mother. "Mark. Who's the next dreamer?"

Mark frowned. "Mrs Clifton, I just came home from a funeral. I literally just had to bury the love of my life. Don't you think this is the wrong moment to ask?"

"Mark, this is serious. If a dreamer is violently killed, the energy can leap over to anyone. Hell, it could be your own daughter for all we know."

His brown eyes suddenly widened. "September?!"

He could practically hear his mother-in-law nodding. "September. Mark, I think she's next. I saw her drawings today... it's exactly what Nancy drew as a child."

He shook his head. "Nancy always told her stories from... from the other side. I'm sure she's just drawing the things she heard of."

"She's not, Mark." Mrs Clifton took a deep shaky breath. "She's drawing a war."

***

"Hey Grey, what are you doing later on?"

He glanced up and his brown eyes met Syllie's. She grinned at him. A strand of her curly purple hair was hanging into her eye.

"Oh, I don't know yet, probably go out and eat something..." Grey shrugged his narrow shoulders.

"If we don't get arrested that is." Syllie smiled, showing her small white teeth. "We live in dangerous times after all."

"Syllie, we work in a library. What can possibly go wrong?"

"Grey, we live in a dictatorship."

"Shhhhhut up, you'll be heard." He chuckled. "I can't wait til my shift is over."

"Oh, you and your constant desire to eat." Syllie picked up a stack of books. "Can you help me with these?"

"Sure."

He was about to pick up the second stack of books when suddenly the door crashed open, followed by heavy footsteps. He needed a second to get what was going on. Then the realization hit him with white-knuckled terror.

"Hands up!", a rough voice bellowed as the two of them found themselves surrounded. Syllie dropped the stack of books and raised her shaking hands.

***

Grey had never thought that he'd be arrested. He'd seen it happen to others, yes, but he'd always thought of himself as entirely ordinary. He wasn't the type of person to go and join the resistance. He was a librarian, for fuck's sake, not a fighter.

And yet, here he was, tossed into a dark cell in the vault of Calderia's castle, with no explanation or idea of why he'd landed here. They'd separated him from Syllie too, she was somewhere on the other side of the dungeon. He'd heard hushed whispers about a doctor, but he didn't know a thing. All he could do was wait and stare at the wall of the cell.

"Hey."

Grey spun around to see a man's sunken face in the corner of the cell. He hadn't noticed him before.

The prisoner had cotton candy hair, although it was tangled and bloodcrusted, and intelligent dark blue eyes. His freckled skin was so pale it looked like wax. At first Grey didn't realize what about the man's appearance unsettled him. Then he abruptly realized that the man had eight arms, an unsettlingly long spine and way too many legs, giving him the appearance of a human caterpillar...

He flinched and the man chuckled. There was a bitter note to his voice. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"Wh-what happened to you?", Grey stuttered.

The stranger unrolled his long thin body and Grey realized that underneath the prisoner uniform he was completely emaciated.

"The doctor had a bad day." The stranger's voice was soft, but the bitter note was still there. "And on those bad days, he likes to... experiment."

"Oh. Oh God." Grey hugged his knees. "Does he experiment on everyone?"

"Lately, yes." There was a hint of a cynical smile on the man's thin face.

"Well, that's reassuring." Grey shuddered.

The stranger seemed to have noticed his anxiousness. He slithered over and curled up next to Grey.

"Sorry," he mumbled, biting his cracked lip. "I didn't mean to scare you, I just... haven't talked to anyone in a long time."

Grey glanced up and realized that the prisoner wasn't much older than him. Early to mid twenties, at a stretch. He looked just as scared as Grey felt, he just did a better job at hiding it.

"Nah, I'm sorry," Grey mumbled. "I've been kinda insensitive too."

"You kinda lose track of everything down here, don't you?" The prisoner anxiously chuckled. He turned his head a little and glanced at the ceiling. "I honestly think I'm losing my mind at this point, it's been so goddamn long... I'd deal with the experiments, but the isolation is so much worse."

Grey's eyes suddenly widened. "Wait. I know you."

"Quite a lot of people do." The stranger's smirk was tired. "Or rather, used to do."

"You're-"

"Ey you!", a guard suddenly yelled at him, interrupting Grey. "Get up. Doctor Hallafeen wants to see you."

The pink-haired prisoner's eyes widened in fear when the guard opened the gate.

"Don't beg, just don't beg," he stuttered while Grey was shackled. "That makes it worse, just stay quiet, please!!"

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

September's Kingdom of Dreams

Chapter 3

They'd had it coming. Nauria had told them, for years and years, people like them wouldn't hold the throne for long. But nooooo, little power plays were more important to the king and queen than the wellbeing of everyone else. They'd deserved what had happened.

The others however hadn't. Nauria dreaded to think of what could have happened to Gardan and the rest of his expedition troop. And of course, Crimson. The princess. Too young to understand the heaviness of her responsibilities, but young enough to learn to face them better than her parents had. She had the precious gift of time to change, time that she would spend knowing the terrible fate of those who refused to learn. She'd seen it with her own eyes.

But for now they only had to do one thing: Escape the castle.

The unusual pair was rushing down into the vault, Nauria clutching Crimson's hand. They heard voices from above, screams, cruel laughter, harsh commands. Then the squeaking gate to the vault opened.

"Bubak, Hallafeen, you search the dungeons. They have to be down there."

A voice with a slight lisp answered. "B-but she's just a child. What's the most she can do?"

"Listen to me you useless sack of straw!", the commander bellowed. "Everything that remains of the Calderia line will threaten our glorious revolution, so go down there, and finish her!"

"We're gonna be found," Crimson whispered timidly.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine," Nauria whispered back. Then she heard footsteps and pulled the princess into an empty cell. "Stay quiet!"

Two figures passed by, a man with dark blonde hair and white clothes and a nervously twitching silhouette with what appeared to be a massive amount of....straw for hair. With his every step he left behind dry blades of grass and occasionally wilted flowers.

The other man abruptly elbowed him in the ribs and he doubled over in pain.

"Look at the mess you're making!", the blonde hissed. "Everyone will see where we've been!"

"I'm sorry, I can't help it-"

"Shut up!" The blonde sharply inhaled through his teeth. "We're splitting up. I'm going to the other wing, you search here." He grabbed the other man by the collar and slightly shook him. "And if you let them escape, I'm breaking your arm again."

With that he left.

For a few moments it was quiet. Then the young man turned over and looked directly at the dark prison cell.

"Hey," he whispered. "I know you're here anyway. I don't want to hurt you."

Nauria hesitated. Was it a trick?

"Look, I can see in the dark, okay? I know you think I'm bluffing, but it's the truth. Listen, I wanna give you some time before Hallafeen comes back, so please hurry up. You can even threaten me with that lovely sword you have, if that makes you feel safer."

Nauria felt the cold handle of Heartpiercer in her hand. Then she took a deep breath, gave Crimson a reassuring nod and stepped into the dim light of the flickering torches.

At first Nauria thought the stranger was wearing a mask, but then she realized that he wasn't. The man standing there and patiently waiting, was a scarecrow.

She raised Heartpiercer, but she wasn't even sure where to aim now. He acknowledged her confusion with a tired twitch of his mouth.

"Why do you want to help us?", Nauria asked.

He shrugged his narrow shoulders. "I don't know. I feel like I should."

"That doesn't sound very convincing."

"Do you have any other options?"

Nauria hesitated, then shook her head. "Nope."

"Good. Did you have any plans how to escape the castle?"

"There's a window in the back where one can climb out."

"Good. You go there, I'm holding up Hallafeen. Deal?"

"Deal."

They hurried down the corridor, until finally, they reached the window. Nauria helped Crimson climb on the windowsill, but once the little princess was there she grabbed the Pirate Queen's arm in white-knuckled terror.

"It's so high!" Her voice was shaking.

"Hey. Hey." Nauria was trying to calm her own racing heartbeat. "You'll be fine. I promise."

Footsteps in the distance. The scarecrow spun around, panic in his face. "Hurry up!"

Nauria bit her lip. Then she made a decision and drew her sword.

"Take Heartpiercer," she whispered. "It'll protect you."

Crimson's red eyes widened as her small hands closed around the cold handle. She glanced up at Nauria, swallowed hard and nodded.

Hallafeen appeared around the corner and Bubak leaped forward to hold him up. "Hallafeen, wait-!"

A blade slashed through his face, followed by a punch and the cracking of bones. The scarecrow yelped and curled up on the floor in pain. Nauria spun around, her eyes wide open.

"Crimson, save yourself!", she yelled.

And the princess jumped.

***

The rain was still drumming on the ceiling of the camping trailer. A stray raccoon found an open window and shuffled inside. It jumped on the wooden table and shook it's damp fur. Silver water droplets flew everywhere, softly plopping against the glass of the window.

The raccoon's muddy paws left stains on the previously clean table as it shuffled over the polished surface and jumped onto the floor. It was hungry.

A bag of crisps on the shelf smelled promising. The raccoon's claws tapped on the ground as it scurried over. Plastic rustled when it climbed into the bag and started munching on the unprecedented snack.

When the raccoon's head appeared from the depths of the crisp bag it suddenly felt watched. Hesitantly, it turned around and realized in utter horror that a human was lying right by the shelf and looking right at it. It bounced to the floor, but then realized that the human wasn't moving.

It's dead, the raccoon thought. It had a small brain, but eventually it came to the conclusion that if something as large as a human had died in this strange box, then a small raccoon probably wasn't safe either. With a small metaphorical sigh the raccoon braced itself and climbed back outside into the storm.

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

September's Kingdom of Dreams

Chapter 2

The small group that had returned from the expedition was still dusty and exhausted, but nonetheless their reddened eyes were wide awake. What they'd seen in the desert of Tewüs dre Chärswez would never let them sleep peacefully anymore. They'd arrived at the castle of Somnium yesterday, shaky and stuttering, and after their pleading King Wenet had called all royalty of Somnium and Nior Ase to the capital.

"So you're saying that the giants are...all dead?", Nauria asked. Her throaty voice echoed through the large hall and was reflected by the white marble.

The leader of the expedition, a frail man with fluffy cotton candy pink hair nodded. He was a young, but not inexperienced aristocrat called Lord Gardan, and despite the fact that he was trying to hide it, his dark blue eyes showed how truly terrified he was. "All of them. The children, the merchants, the royalty, literally every single one of them."

"What about the king? The queen? The prince?", King Wenet inquired. He seemed unimpressed, but he didn't seem to have grasped how devastating the situation was in the first place. "Surely they must have survived."

"Didn't you listen, your majesty?" Gardan's voice cracked. "Every single one is dead. Although, granted, we have not found the prince yet."

"So it's possible Prince Void may still be alive?", Queen Elsemere asked. She was a thin, mousy woman with long pale blonde hair and a tendency to go unnoticed. Princess Crimson, seven years old, blonde and frail, was sleeping on her lap.

Lord Gardan shook his head, his pale pink curls bouncing up and down. "I very much doubt it." He turned to the king. "Your majesty, we need to protect Calderia, before it's too late."

"I don't think that is necessary," King Wenet answered, stroking his blonde beard. "The giants were peaceful, they haven't been at war in thousands of years. It's understandable that they couldn't defend themselves."

"What about the sirens?", Nauria sceptically commented. "It's not like they're defenseless, and yet their king disappeared without a trace last night. Someone is systematically trying to dismantle all our allies' kingdoms!"

Wenet waved it off. "Nauria, you can't call the sirens civilized, they're nothing like us-"

"Excuse me?! They're close friends of us pirates!!"

"We have enough troops, we even overthrew the albs." The king laughed. "Right, Esmond?"

He turned to the thin, grey-skinned boy in the corner of the room. Pointy ears and black eyes made it painfully obvious that the child was an alb. Chains clinking with his every movement made it obvious he was a prisoner. Blood red hair falling over his narrow shoulders made something else even more obvious. The boy had been a member of the albish royal family.

Esmond nodded quietly and bit his lip. The king chuckled.

"If the giants were slaughtered we're next," Lord Gardan protested. "I mean... have you seen the state Tewüs dre Chärswez was in?! They were scattered all across the desert!! The fucking giants! Have you ever seen an oasis filled with decaying heads?! Whoever attacked them was vicious, brutal and merciless!!"

"Lord Gardan, please calm down," Queen Elsemere said. Her voice was quiet and soft. Sometimes Nauria wondered how she and the calm pale woman on the throne were even related, let alone sisters. Elsemere felt like a stranger, too cold to care about the humans in her kingdom and too timid to speak out against her power drunk husband. Nauria prayed that Crimson wouldn't grow up to be like her mother.

"I'm seriously concerned for your safety, your majesty," Gardan pleaded. "This kingdom may be a strong aggressor, but if any enemy reaches the castle here in Calderia we're as good as dead."

"What do we even know about the attack?", King Wenet asked.

"Not much," Gardan admitted. "Only one giant made it out far enough to warn anyone, and she was a child, wounded and we found her on her death bed. They called themselves Nightmares. Had at least one alb with them, a vampire and various other species. They used poisoned arrows and took no prisoners."

"An alb?" The king raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I thought we'd slaughtered them all."

The young prince in the corner flinched a little. Nauria saw the gesture and turned to the king. "Your majesty, I'm not about to discuss your war crimes here, but stop talking about the slaughter of the albs. I'm serious. Look at Esmond, he's just a child. It's bad enough you're keeping him prisoner after all he's been through."

"Nauria please...", Elsemere softly interrupted her. "This isn't the right time or place."

"No, I'm curious." Wenet leaned forward. "Esmond, come here."

Shaking, the prince stepped forward. The chain around his neck clinked, preventing him from getting too close. "Y-yes, your majesty?"

"Do you think I've treated you unfairly?"

Lord Gardan sighed impatiently. "Can you play your games at some other point, your majesty? We could literally all be slaughtered at any given second-"

"Let him speak." A smile was playing on the king's pale lips.

Esmond hesitated. Then he swallowed hard.

"I-I believe the treatment of my people was unjust and cruel." Suddenly his shaking voice became firm. "You have wiped out an entire race for the sole purpose of expanding your kingdom. You have tortured and murdered my mother, Queen Faran De, and my father, King Dubrog, and you have imprisoned and mutilated me, Prince Esmond of Sle Ulan, or as you puny humans call it, the Moon Forest, for the sole purpose of assimilating me into Somnish culture, so that you could tell other royalty that you'd tamed an oh so wild alb. You like to boast that you are the supreme beings on this world, but you're weak. All you humans rely on is backstabbing. And yet you act so surprised when..." Suddenly a smile ran over his grey face. "... someone uses your weapons against you."

And suddenly the window exploded. Glass shards rained down on the crowd. The sleeping princess woke up and looked around in confusion. "Wh-what's happening?"

Massive green wings fluttered through the air, and in the storm of glass shards, burning arrows raining into the castle, screams and fangs, Nauria got hold of the princess's small hand.

"Come on!", she yelled and dragged her towards the door. But the princess was frozen, staring at the vampire that was tearing up her father, Lord Gardan drawing his sword and Prince Esmond, still smiling on his chain.

Then Nauria nudged her outside and they ran.

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

Link to the masterpost

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

September's Kingdom of Dreams

Chapter 1

The dreamers.

On the edge of legends, they have existed as long as humanity has. Myths and fairytales say that they can wander between universes in their sleep, leading two lives, one by daylight, one at nighttime. Their stories are found everywhere across the world. Or should I say...both worlds.

***

It was a rainy dark night. Occasionally lightning flashed across the sky, like glowing fingers reaching for the black treetops.

In a small camping trailer in the woods, a woman in her late thirties was lying in her bed and staring at the ceiling. She had messy dark blonde hair with a few braided streaks, reddish brown eyes and a deep tan on her face. Her name was Nancy Baker, and as far as she knew, she was the only dreamer in existence.

Nancy sleepily blinked. It had been a long day, and it was promising to be an even longer night. After news of the genocide on the giants had reached Nior Ase she'd decided to take a spontaneous vacation without her family to ensure that she could focus exclusively on the issues in Somnium. War was in the air. Nancy hated war.

She rolled over and felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier. The rhythmic drumming of the rain was lulling her to sleep. And then, finally-

***

"Hey! Queen Nauria!"

"Huh?" She blinked and sleepily peeked over to the source of the voice. Lord Hatefer was leaning against the driftwood doorway with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you going to sleep all day or not?", he asked.

She gave him a sly smirk. "You know I never really sleep."

"Must be exhausting, huh?" He chuckled.

"Where's Warun?", Nauria asked while sitting up and rubbing her red eyes.

"Emergency meeting with the Siren Queen. Apparently the King was captured by someone last night."

"Oh, so that's why I was so tired on the other side."

Hatefer shrugged his broad shoulders. "He tried to wake you up, but I guess the dreamer has other duties."

"I did, I went on a camping trip to the Alaskan forest." Nauria yawned and swung her long legs out of the hammock she'd been sleeping in. "To make sure my other family doesn't randomly interrupt me while I'm in the middle of a battlefield."

"They don't know about the troubles in Tewüs dre Chärswez?" Hatefer looked sceptical.

Nauria shrugged her shoulders. "Dreamers aren't exactly a thing people believe in on the other side. My husband is somewhat in on the whole story, but my daughter is tiny, I can't explain that to her without accidentally ending up in the nuthouse."

"Sounds reassuring." Hatefer glanced out of the window. "By the way, I recommend taking Heartpiercer with you."

Nauria laughed. "My sword? Hatefer, it's a fucking meeting. What can possibly go wrong?"

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

Masterpost

September's Kingdom of Dreams

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

Quick post on my writing

As y'all know I currently have three WIPs in the works, Green Eyes, September's Kingdom of Dreams and Rise of the Forest God. The thing is, I also have an extremely important phase of exams in school that will determine whether I have to stay another year, and all that is more important to me. I won't stop writing entirely because I can't physically exist without creativity, but I'll take more time for what's in progress.

Thanks for standing by!

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

I'm having writer's block atm which means postponing the whole thing, but in the meantime take the Giant Prince singing Never gonna give you up

[septembers-kingdom-of-dreams]

Hellooooo everyone!

A few weeks ago I dug up an old notebook with a story I do not remember writing AT ALL, but judging by my notes it's heavily based on a series of lucid dreams I had as a child. I decided to polish the whole thing up and will soon start posting it on here!

The story follows the banished princess Crimson of Somnium who narrowly escaped a coup as a child and had to watch the evil Nightmare King take over her kingdom. Over the years she has gathered a resistance, but now she is looking for the Dreamer, a mysterious girl with the powers of a God who could help her win the fight against evil at last...

If you're interested consider following this blog! Also, if you want to join the taglist (Meaning I'll tag you whenever a new chapter comes out) tell me!

I hope you have a lovely day!

— Maddie