Dreamer [boyxboy]

Parallel Universe

 The stench of death surrounded me, rotten fumes rising from the mounds of festering flesh and gangrenous limbs strewn over the curse ridden valley. I steeled myself against the putrid onslaught, managing to withhold the nausea forcing its way up my tightly constricted throat. The handle of the steel blade burned into the fleshy skin on the palms of my hand; the tighter I gripped, the worse the pain. A slow shine burned down the length of the age old sword as the quickly dimming sunlight dappled across the bloodstained field littered with piles of severed limbs and endless trails of bodies.

Every second felt like an eternity, trickling by slower than the world turns. The sky above us burst into blood reds and vibrant scarlet, a sudden blinding flash rose over the distant horizon, splitting the battle bled field into deep silhouettes and halos of white. Terrifying howls of the creatures echoed across the land, fear lancing sharply through my entire being, almost crippling my body with terror. The unease of the warriors lined behind me leaked steadily into the air. Breathing deeply I forced every thought to the back of my mind, wanting only to show some strength in this endless torment.  In response to the slowly increasing trembling of the land beneath my feet, my body stiffened

They were coming.

Sharply I flicked my head forward, the metallic covering of headgear sliding softly into place, my suddenly enhanced senses signalling the battle was about to begin. The armour covering every spare inch on my body began a steady hum, powering up the electrical wiring to provide maximum attack strength. I watched as glowing rings began to form around the lethal weapon in my hand, spinning faster and faster until one firm twitch of my wrist would send them flying through any solid object that lay in my path, in this case, the hybrid hell terrors that fly screeching over the field before us. My body was suddenly practically weightless, feet only barely dusting the dirt beneath my feet. A brief, almost undetectable shift in the air surrounding me showed the many tiny shields that now layered the air.

Every bone in my body was screaming to run, every muscle shrieking with panic, my heart straining to detach itself from my ribcage. But I held steady, knowing that as long as I was strong, the loyal men and women would return the same passion.

We were there for a single purpose, to protect the innocent dreamers on the connecting dimension. To destroy the nightmares that haunted their unconscious minds. But this… this was far beyond a nightmare… these dreams were alive and breathing, ready to maim and torture.

They were ready to kill.

The metres between us half mortals and the death defying terrors were falling away like dominoes under the pressure of a giant finger- except this finger was likely to eat us alive and tear us slowly and painfully limb from limb. Seconds fell away too fast, every memory that I wanted to hold onto forever, every smile, every laugh, every victory, every thing and any reason I could find to force myself to survive the oncoming wave of extinction flashed through my mind.

Six.

The world is going to end if we don’t win…

Five.

All those people…

Four.

I don’t want to die…

Two.

I’m not ready…

One.

A rough shove from behidn me was all it took. Without a second glance, as one body we leapt into the waiting, salivating, screeching and mortifying, murderous and hungering jaws of death itself.