It was a dream that disturbed my sleep that night in the Land Of Hearts. Not the wind that made the trees knock with their slender branches against the window. Not the howling of wild, unseen creatures in the gathering woods outside of the cabin. Not even the pitter-pattering of rain against the windows. But, a dream.
In this dream, I soon saw myself standing in the midst of a forest, tall, broad oaks towering above me. The sky was a deep, rich blue which meant it was sometime around midnight. Precisely the time it was in reality. I doubted it was a coincidence. The trees swayed in the wind, the breathy, howls of ghosts sweeping down upon the forest and right up against my skin.
I shivered at the touch of it, for I knew it was not a ghost, but my master calling to me. That's when I knew it was that type of dream. The kind of dream that would bring the land above and the land down here together.
At first, I didn't know what to do. Usually, my master would've already been here by now. These dreams would usually start with my master drifting down from the sky in a form of mist, one swift motion that would lead her to me. These dreams didn't work, though, if my master was not here. Both of us had, too. If not, the dream world would around me would start to blur and then I would wake up in a frenzy. But, that wasn't going to happen today.
I could feel someone behind me, the heat generating from their body all-too-knowing for me. I shifted my eyes a smidge to the right and, through my peripheral vision, saw my master.
"Well, hello there...master," I spat out, turning around with such predatory stillness. My master soon looked surprised...maybe even perplexed to as why I would ever speak in such a way to her.
"Well, someone's in a mood. But, I'll have you know that I don't take kindly to this kind of treatment...especially from an apprentice. And, not to mention, the fact that I'm your Controller. It's not the other way around, Diaco. And it never will be for that matter," my master replied, her tone of voice calm but also containing an underlying hardness to it, you might say.
That's how cunning she was. I had learned over the years that it was strictly her voice that manipulated you. The way she spoke...the voice she spoke in. It all mattered because I knew it was not the fact that I was not cunning enough. No, it couldn't be. For I was not the cowardly, incoherent, pitiful person my master thought I was. That was how I got back at her...for being the manipulative witch that was her personality. That wasn't a far-off insult, though.
Because she was a witch. She hadn't flat-out told me, but I could make a pretty good guess that was her occupation.
"So, why have you summoned me to the Place Between Worlds this time," I managed to ask, but just as the words left my mouth...my stupid, stupid mouth...I soon regretted it.
A scowl appeared across my master's face, one so hideous and evil that it made my back straighten. I lost eye contact immediately, putting on that helpless act that made it so easy for my master to let her guard down. That was another reason why I acted like this: so that she would let her guard down and I might be able to learn something...that could aid in my escape. I've been planning something of that sort for the past five years. Ever since my parents gave me up and I was destined to live the rest of my life in this shithole of a world that was the Land Of Hearts.
That's why I was kind of relying on the fact that there was another world. I mean, if there was a Place Between Worlds, there had to be another world, right? Well, of course...this wasn't really a place at all, just a figment of my imagination. But who knows? Maybe one day I would finally be able to leave the Land Of Hearts and start a new life somewhere else. Maybe.
That's when I finally realized that my master was looking at me. I quickly looked up, knowing that she had been calculating all of my movements throughout my little "day-dream session". Maybe she even knew what I had been thinking about. I mean, she was a witch.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked without a degree of hatred, but there was always that hint of something darker beneath it. I hated her for it.
"Nothing," I blurted out quickly. Too quickly.
"Hmm, well I'll deal with this later...but let me tell you why I summoned you here first." I let go of the breath I'd been holding in through my nose, trying to be stealthy, but I'm still sure she picked it up.
"Good. Because I'm rather fatigued," I replied back, just wanting to get this over with, but an unusual tightness hung in my chest at the suspense of what my master was about to reveal to me.
"Well, since you're near fully-trained, I've got a task for you. There's a girl I ran into in the Land Of Commoners' today. Well, actually that's exactly what happened. I was carrying a box of what looked like apples and she bolted right into me. I dropped the apples and she ran right over me. What a thoughtless girl. But, I would've shrugged the whole incident off were it not for the fact that the store clerk didn't allow me to purchase the apples again for no additional charge," she told me, her voice serene and rhythmic, unusual for the situation she just explained me.
"Why didn't you just pay what the clerk wanted for the apples?" I asked, for I was curious and this didn't all make sense to me yet. I'm guessing she didn't want to tell me everything, probably because she was trying to hide exactly what she buying today.
"They were expensive. Ten gold coins were the price."
I gasped, for that was costly. I've never heard of such a steep price...even in all the time I've spent down here.
"Plus, those apples were important. You needn't know all the specifics, but you know enough already to do what I want you to do," she said, working beauty and tranquility into her voice to manipulate me into wanting to help her. That's what she did best. She would make you think it was your idea when it really wasn't. But, I wasn't falling for it.
"And what is it that you want me to do? Kill her, kidnap her?" I asked uncautiously. I knew I was playing with fire when I suddenly noticed how irritated she was becoming. The way she was picking at her nails and the tightness that was spreading across the wrinkles of her face. I was surprised she even used this form. I knew she had the power to shapeshift, so why stay in such a hideous body?
Finally, though, she spoke of my true task, "Lead her to your land."
My breath caught in my throat and the worst thing of all was that she heard...and smiled.
"I know how lonely you get sometimes because I'm gone all the time. Wouldn't it be nice to have some company for once?" she offered. Well, she would have the task done by me whether or not I wanted to, so I wouldn't use the word "offered", but that's how manipulative she was. It was literally the one character trait she possessed.
"Fine, I'll do it, but how will I know who to lure into the Land Of Hearts if I don't know this girl looks?" I questioned, hoping that she wouldn't be able to describe her to me and that I wouldn't have to complete this wrongful deed. But, my hopes were let down when an image of a girl was projected into my mind by the magic that curdled in my master's veins. The girl was a brunette, her hair messy and ruffled, but still silky. Her skin was fair and complemented her hair color well, but the thing that took my breath away the most was the resemblance of her pink lips to rosebuds.
"Pretty, isn't she?" my master asked. I could still her during my trance. I just couldn't see her. All I could see was this beautiful, young girl and all I could think about was how I would be ruining the rest of her life by dragging her down here. I took a deep breath and the image swept away, leaving me with the sight of my master right in front of me.
Her body soon disappeared, too, swept away in the wind...a prayer come true.
* * *
Within moments, I woke up gasping in bed. I sat up in the small cot, my breathing ragged, my clothes almost completely soaked through with sweat, and the dream that I had just lived through still apparent on my mind. I sighed, knowing that it would no use to go back to sleep. Even though it was only three in the morning, it would be light out soon and the guards who defended the Entrances would be out soon. Then, I would be able to enter into the world above. A trip I was not in any way looking forward to.
I slugged out of bed and slowly made my way to the kitchen of the small cabin, shifting sideways to avoid getting stuck between the doorway. The kitchen was musty this time of year and cracks that traveled across the ceiling let in water once in a while...whenever it rained. I didn't try to act surprised when my feet met with the cold, swirling water that collected in puddles on the wooden floor. I grimaced, not wanting to deal with this right now.
That's another thing that I despised about my master: she didn't trust me enough to live with her in her official manor, so I lived down here in the middle of nowhere. She visited me once a month, usually checking to make sure I hadn't tried to escape or made of mess of things. One time I'd dropped one of her potions on the floor, creating an awful aroma of nose-wrenching smells in the room, and she deprived me of food for two days.
I would like to say it was a bit dramatic on her part, but that was the kind of thing I now expected from her. Sadly, it was the truth.
After sifting through the pantry, looking for foods that would last me the long journey to the land above, I deposited them in my traveler's bag and proceeded to the door. The door was regularly locked, but tonight it had been remotely unlocked by my master's magic. I guess that was how she kept me from escaping. But, I guess it was fortunate for me, too. By putting hexes and wards up around the cabin, it not only kept me in...but it kept other things out, like the creatures that I knew lurked in the woods surrounding me.
As soon as I began to turn the knob, I realized I had forgotten to change. I went back to my bedroom and opened the closet, the ancient wood groaning and squeaking. I dressed in appropriate clothing for my journey: a blue tunic, beige trousers, a red cloak that provided warmth against the coolness of the air, and black boots that were meant for hiking.
Lastly, I headed into my master's study, picking out a dark-green potion that jiggled in its sealed-shot container. I twisted the cap off and held it high in the air, tilting it one degree so that only a drop of it would land on my tongue.
This would provide invisibility against predators. As soon as the potion started kicking in, I finally walked out of the cabin, setting foot on a journey that I would live to regret.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
