Of Forgotten Dreams (Book 1) [NANOWRIMO 2022]

Chapter 9

"Lady Yun... One last thing." He turned around, having taken not more than a few steps onto the hallway. "Do remember to take care of yourself as well. From what I know, your father would not like it if you were putting your health as stake."

"I appreciate your reminder, Healer Wong. But until my father is completely healed, I'm afraid that I will not be able to rest completely. Have a safe journey." She said, looking over her father's sleeping figure.

• ───────────────── •

Unlike her usual dreams, this time Yun was herself.

Completely herself, as she was in waking life.

Turning around, she looked around, trying to get a sense of her whereabouts.

Her arms brightened as she raised them, illuminating her dark surroundings. Jagged rocks came into her vision, and she quickly realised that she was in a cave.

Her brows furrowed as she took a step forwards, eyeing her surroundings to ensure that nothing else was going to happen, and then continued her steps again.

This is a maze. She realised belatedly. But without continuing her line of thought, she stepped forwards further, until she came to steps winding down to the stomach of the cave. All the roads will lead somewhere.

She wandered through the maze of passageways, soon feeling like something was guiding her as there were some paths that had a small light at the end of them, and she ended up taking all of them. After several random turns left and right at several crossroads, a huge cavern opened up to her. It was a huge pond which was almost as wide as her whole house, several buildings included.

She look down, and saw steps in front of her that were covered in luminescent yellow moss, leading down to water. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself, knowing that she had to enter the pool.

She took the few steps into it and hissed, the coldness of the water surprising her. But she waddled forwards without much problem as it only reached her waist. Sharp rocks she kept an eye out to avoid, as well as the occasional fish that she saw just floating in the water. Which she thought was strange.

When she was halfway through the pool, light suddenly poured down from above. Yun pressed her lips together and squeezed her eyes shut, lifting her hand to her face.

A few moments later, she opened them, blinking and finally saw the entirety of the cave. The cave had a tall cavern ceiling that had several large cracks to let the sunlight in. Vines crawled the walls, and several bird calls echoed throughout the cave.

And right in front of her, previously shielded from her view, was a beautiful statue, standing so tall that it almost touched the cave ceiling.

It was a beautiful woman, with long hair that curled at her waist and a dress so unique Yun had never seen anything even similar before. Her eyes were closed, as if she was in deep sleep. Long thorny vines were wrapped around the statue, with especially thick ones around her wrists and her neck.

I have been waiting for you, Yun.

"Who are you?" Yun asked, whipping her head around before hesitantly locking eyes onto the statue as she heard a female voice.

It must've been from her, for there was nothing else, or no one else in this room that she thought would have talked.

You don't know me, but I know you. The voice chuckled warmly, and Yun found herself relaxing by just a fraction.

So far, you are the first one that has managed to come here, even if it's only in your dreams. But dreams are much more than they seem, and it shows your potential.

"What potential?"

The potential to expand on the powers that I have blessed you with. You have sunburst powers that you are just discovering, and you are meant to use them to do great things.

"But... what am I supposed to do?" Yun felt lost, but for some reason, she wanted to know. She wanted to know what she felt was missing, what she was meant to do in this lifetime.

You shall find out yourself in due time, during the first part of your journey in this mortal realm.

But for now, I shall help guide you towards the Immortal you need to meet.

Yun saw that the statue was beginning to glow, and she raised one hand to cover her eyes as it got too bright. And then she felt a sudden heat warming up her chest, like something was being infused into her.

She lost her balance, and then she fell backwards, hitting the water hard.

Her hands reached out to attempt to swim to the surface, but she found herself sinking. Deeper, and deeper. And deeper.

• ───────────────── •

Yun awoke with a gasp as she clutched her chest. They felt tight, like she couldn't breathe.

She had no recollection of what she had dreamt off however, and frowned, puzzled as she rubbed her chest, trying to soothe away her pain.

What happened?