ALLETS
Another nightmare.
Gelae awoke from the horrors of what he thought was merely his imagination. He scanned the floor below him, taking a moment to realize where he was. It was the vamp village, he remembered. He and Moraine were ambushed. He tried to peer to his left, but alas, whatever harness he was dangling on prevented him from doing so.
But where was the pain? Gelae recalled getting hit by an arrow, but he felt nothing now. Was he no longer injured? How long had he been here? Days? Where was Moraine? Cyiet?
And the nightmares ... Gelae swallowed. He felt exhausted, but how could he sleep when only horrors awaited him? Still, he felt his eyelids drop and he allowed himself a few seconds of peaceful darkness.
He felt himself move, but not from one of his joints or muscles ... his whole body was moving. It felt as if he were swinging actually. Gelae knew he was not dreaming.
He opened his eyes and found a feline's head directly below his hammock. At first he only saw red hair swaying to gravity, but then he spotted ears twitching outward with strands of tufts attached to the points. There was a furre hanging on his hammock, Gelae realized, that was why it was currently swinging. He was able to make out brown fur and green eyes...
"Hi!" the furre said.
"I must be hallucinating" Gelae responded, "This isn't real."
"Yeah," the furre replied, "I really don't know what reality is either. I used to when I was a child though. What's your name?"
"Gelae," he said, looking back at the floor. He was able to make out the outline of Moraine's daggers on the ground. Judging by their size, he assumed he was very high up.
"How'd did you get up here?" he asked his new companion, "Did you fly?"
"Do you still believe that you're hallucinating?"
"Yes."
"Then yes," the furre said, "I flew."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Exavia."
"Exavia?" Gelae echoed, "I'm sorry. I don't think I know you."
"Did you expect to?"
"Yeah. I am hallucinating. Wouldn't I dream up my friends?"
"I dunno," Exavia shrugged, "I haven't actually hallucinated before. But people say that I'm distracted by shiny objects."
Gelae smiled, "I suppose my blue fur would look shiny."
"You're warmer than what I expected too," Exavia continued, "I figured you to be cold at the touch."
"Why would you say that?"
She shrugged again, "Just a feeling."
"Do you know me?" he asked. His eyes narrowed as he strained to study her.
"Not really," she answered, "But I want to help you."
"You're going to set me free?"
"In a way. How do you feel? Are you too warm?"
"Why the sudden interest in my warmth?"
Exavia pulled herself closer to him, swinging their hammock as she positioned her head close to his. He could only see her bright green eyes. They looked into his as if they were searching for something within him.
"You eyes are blue," she finally said, "Very cold blue. They were this way since just after you were born. Beforehand, they were navy blue; they seemed very energetic. Your family gave you up because they thought the change in colour was a bad omen, as if you were a demon. Your new family had a relative your age. You two became best friends..."
"Moraine," Gelae whispered, "How do you know all this?"
Exavia blinked, "Your eyes are cold. You are from the mountains."
Cold sprays of ice in the wind scraped Gelae's face. He staggered and looked behind him. Moraine was still there. She smiled at him, coaxing him to continue. She still wore the gloves to hide her scars. But ... that incident happened when they were ten. He looked at her again and indeed his best friend was only ten years old.
"Don't worry, Gelae," she said, "You can do this."
He wondered to himself if she really had faith in him or just wanted to see him fall flat on his nose. Karamel had just reached a new record in his ice sliding, beating out all of Gelae's previous achievements. It would be difficult. In fact, he had no idea how he was going to do it. Perhaps if he stuck his nose out as he slid on his chest...
Wait. He did do it. He had already beat Karamel eight years ago. He kept his championship. So what exactly was happening to him now?
"You cheated," Exavia chuckled, "You melted the ice just a little to allow you to slide further."
"I didn't mean to," Gelae whimpered. He turned to his new companion and gasped. There she stood, with actual wings. She spread them out and flapped just once as if it were nothing more than a stretch.
"You're dreaming," she explained.
"Obviously."
He looked back to Moraine, but saw only a dark floor. Gelae was hanging in his hammock again; back in vamp hell. He cringed. He should have made that slide. It would have been a nice feeling. And he needed all the nice feelings right now. Perhaps it was not too late.
"Exavia?" he called.
There was no answer. There was no furre hanging on him. Perhaps it was all just a dream after all. At least it did not turn into a nightmare this time. Gelae sighed as he felt exhaustion once again. He closed his eyes and from then on, all of his dreams were peaceful.