I wandered down the path as I absentmindedly trailed my fingers across the star-bright foliage and watched in wonder as silvery, ethereal particles gracefully floated into the air. I was beginning to be able to hear the sound of gurgling water and knew I was getting close to the place I sought.
I stopped suddenly when the path faded from bronze-colored soil to a thin layer of crystal clear water. All the plants seemed to thrive here, growing vibrant and tall around the water’s edge. The tree canopy, which grew thickly throughout the entire forest, gave way to a perfect, circle-shaped gap that allowed a clear view of the sky. However, the centerpiece of the clearing was further ahead, where a large mahogany door was set into a silvery stone wall. It was covered in intricate carvings reminiscent of runes, and it seemed to radiate a sense of mystery and wonder. There was no doubt about it: there was an air of magic around this place.
I looked down at the worn parchment in my hand. I hadn’t realized I was gripping it so tightly. Nervous butterflies fluttered around in my stomach, the way they always did when I sensed something was about to happen.
For several moments, the whole world seemed eerily quiet. The only sound was the hushed murmur of the thin layer of water I was now standing in the middle of. Facing the door, I studied its carvings. It looked nothing like the runes I had studied in my spare time—ones featured in old myths and fairy tales. These seemed foreign, somehow more ancient, as if they had come from a world all their own. They had a way of captivating my attention, despite being small, stationary things, drawing me in to better learn their secrets.
I was abruptly pulled from my trance by a cloud passing over the sun.
No, not a cloud—it was as though the sun and moon had suddenly forgotten their places in the sky. A ribbon of twilight and brightly shining stars glided over the clearing and draped itself across the sky like a blanket.
And just like that, the sunny afternoon had turned into a mystical dusk.
I watched as slowly, one by one, the plants that surrounded the ancient glade began to glow, hidden swirling patterns revealing themselves in the luminescence. Silvery fog delicately crept through the leaves, dancing just off the ground as they surrounded the water’s edge.
A warm, tingling sensation made its way through my fingers, and I subconsciously glanced downwards to the hand that was holding the piece of parchment. A soft gasp escaped my lips as I realized that the runes were now glowing bright silver in the light of the stars above. They pulsed once, twice, before fading away as though nothing had happened.
For a couple of moments, I stood there in silence. The whole glade hushed into complete quietness as if it held its breath. Then, a bright golden inscription blazed to life on the large, flat stone I was standing upon, followed by the illumination of seemingly thousands of runes along the door frame just in front of me. I stood, frozen in place, heart pounding at the sudden transformation. It looked like I was standing in a completely different place.
“Awaken, daughter of Falinore,” a whispery voice echoed in the dusk. “Claim your birthright. Ascend the throne. Save us all.”
I sat upright in my bed, dazed and confused from the dream. It had all seemed so real…
My eyes drifted towards my nightstand, where I had placed the parchment after studying it the night before. I picked it up and gasped with shock when I saw the page.
The runes that I had seen had vanished, replaced with a single sentence printed in elegant cursive across the middle:
I await you.
-To Be Continued-
