Irena - Dreams

Once more Irena sat on a hotel bed, enthralled by the laptop in front of her. She scanned indices and tables until she found the entries she was looking for. The first detailed a bar in the depths of Centrys, City of Doors, Eternal City at the center of the multi-verse. The description and sketches matched her imaginings at Brochan's perfectly. Down to the small table in the alcove and the urchin seated there. The second description was of a public market in the heart of Jakara, Gem of the Lotus, capital city of the Lotus Empire.

She sipped slivovitz from the bottle she had bought, nibbled on greasy pizza, and wandered the descriptions and renderings of the game world for a couple of hours. She turned the laptop off and slid under the covers, falling rapidly into a deep sleep.

Her dreams were random and unmemorable until a strange purple flash occurred in one. The heart shaped sapphire of Sophia's rested in her hand, pulsing and glowing with a deep purple light. She lifted her eyes from her hand to the table in front of her. Knives, swords, pouches of grease, and sharpening stones were laid out where possible customers could examine them. Overhead dark grey clouds shifted and swirled above the market area. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed in the distance. Cloths and tarps had been hastily strung up on poles to protect wares and the people close enough to browse them. Canals were visible behind the merchants not backed up against tall wooden buildings. Her table was set back in a narrow space between two buildings, their balconies and bridges providing shelter from the drizzling rain.

Balconies, bridges, and narrow walkways snaked between the tall buildings and arched across the canals in front of her. The throng of people gave little attention to the storm, instead focusing on haggling for food and goods as if it were a normal day. Few found their way to her small table, which was just fine. The flow of faces and styles in front of her was more interesting than the thought of having to sell anything.

A bright purple flash of light blinded Irena and, when it cleared, she found herself looking out into a forest glade. In the center of it a hexagonal wooden hut crouched. Smoke curled from the chimney and a white fence surrounded a stretch of emerald green grass and beautiful flower arrangements. Behind her the forest brooded, dark and forbidding. Animal cries echoed in the distance. Overhead the sky was deep, crystaline blue with tiny puffs of white cloud. Behind the hut, rising in the distance was an impossible spire of rock, thrust up sharply, and rising out of sight into the sky.

Irena began walking toward the hut. As she neared the fence it resolved into bones, woven together to form a fence. Grinning skulls rested atop the fence posts and seemed to watch her with dim, orange fire eyes. The gate swung open as she approached, while a voice softly whispered, "Welcome home, Mistress."

A loud honking and banging slammed her awake, abruptly ending the spell. Her head pounded with the suddenness of the intrusion. The cheap hotel clock showed five in the morning and the sky was just showing the beginning of day.