Endless Dream

Three days - The Storm

The glass on the floor pointed upwards like knives. Iris knew if Periwinkle managed to wrangle himself free, he'd cut his feet on them. Iris stumbled for the door, their hair wrapping around their face like a shroud, obscuring their vision. Tiny needle-like shards licked their feet, making them wince. Iris stretched a hand out in front of them, patting the surface of the door for the doorknob. They brushed over the curves and divets of the wood, spluttering hair out of their mouth as they tried to get out. Periwinkle was still screeching at them, nipping and slicing through whatever bare piece of flesh he could find.

Rain drenched the room. It came down like a storm of bullets, smashing into every inch of the floor and slamming into Iris' back. They patted the door faster. The cold metal of the doorknob sent shivers down their spin as their hand connected with it. Iris triumphantly swung the door free, fighting the wind that howled around them. Periwinkle saw an opportunity and pushed off Iris with all of his strength. He flew free from their grasp and sprinted down the long corridor, gaining speed. Iris called after him, but he had already vanished to another of his hiding places to wait out the storm.

Iris fought the door, squeezing themselves out of the small gap whilst trying to push it wider. The force of the storm kept closing it on them, trapping their hips against the frame. Iris yelled in pain when it tried to slam shut on their body.

"Iris!" a voice called at the other end. Iris couldn't make out who it was. The storm drowned out their voice. They prayed it was Dream, prayed that he'd returned. Iris struggled against the door's edge, shimmying through the gap.

"Iris, hold on!" the stranger called again, running down the corridor towards them.

"Morpheus!" Iris called back, their hand reaching out to him. His hand wrapped around them, pulling them through the doorway. His hand felt strangely clammy and small. Iris heaved themselves away from the door, clutching onto Dream.

He wrestled them free and set them down, both of them panting for air. Iris moved their long locks out of the way and looked up at him, ready to scold him for making them worry, ignoring their attempt to communicate, and being an outright fool.

Iris looked disappointed when it was Lucienne standing before them. The librarian was still in their beige nightshirt and woven brown night jacket with thin tweed slippers on the bottom of her feet. Lucienne wheezed loudly.

"I thought-" Iris said, their gaze falling to the floor.

Lucienne straightened her back, putting her hands on her hips and taking long breaths, "I know," she breathed. Lucienne shared Iris' concern for Dream, he had been gone longer than they had anticipated.

"Why did you come looking for me?" Iris asked curiously. Their chambers were a long way from the throne room or any other quarters in the palace.

"Your bloody cat started scratching and crying outside the library, there was blood in his fur, I thought perhaps something had gone amiss," Iris snorted, taking a mental note to reward him after the storm, "We should head for the library, Mervyn is with some others who managed to escape the storm," Iris followed Lucienne to the library, keeping a cautious ear out in case any more windows broke.

When they reached the library, there were hundreds of lanterns hung on the shelves, illuminating small clusters of people that had sought shelter here. The storm had gathered at the edge of The Dreaming, sweeping across the realm with an unnatural speed. People had fled throughout the night to find safety, homes and houses were lost to its violent winds.

Iris settled near Lucienne's desk, sitting at one of the two chairs tucked near it. No one had any explanation for the extreme weather, it was unheard of in The Dreaming. Iris watched a family of Nymphs huddled close to their mother, silently weeping under a stack of books. The mother tried to sing and rock her youngest to sleep but their wailing was louder than the storm. Everyone glared and gave her disapproving looks as she tried to calm the babe. She tried switching arms, shuffling the child from side to side but it continued to scream, it had been screaming so long that its little throat croaked and squeaked.