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Prologue

I couldn't remember anything before the dreams, if that's what you want to call them. Though I can't remember when they started so I don't have any clue of if this is normal or not or how long I've been stuck in these plains of reality. Most of the time I couldn't tell when I was 'awake' and when I was 'asleep'. Both realities seemed pretty similar, with one version, they would carry on from the last, I always ended up in a gray cell-like room with a man calmly pacing in-front of the bars until he spotted me huddled in the corner gaping up at him. He would run off and there would be shouting from the distance then thundering footsteps that grew ever closer. I would watch as shadows hurtled along the walls opposite my door and a stampede of people in armour would come hurtling down the corridor towards me. They would all have guarded expressions but all of them had wide eyed stares locked on my door or me that were alert and seemed slightly panicked. Each time they reappeared in my line of sight they would be holding something different food, bottles, clothes, sometimes I had no clue what it was. Every time they appeared the same guard would be a holding  a shiny, scarlet key. The only reason I could tell it was the same person that had the key was that he was the only one who looked remotely calm every time I awoke, his piercing stare void of emotion was always locked on me and never wavered. They would all be in a panic to get the door open and as my vision started to fade I would be dragged to someones feet and then I just forgot. 

The other dreams were more like nightmares and I didn't like them much either. Those were the dreams that changed almost every time. All the places seemed to be linked in some way or another so if I was in a  forest the next nightmare would be in the beginning of a cave with the entrance covered by foliage. They always had the weirdest creatures in them from centaurs to creatures I had no name for and never wanted to see again. Each ended with a message that seemed important for the next one. Most of what I had on me would stay the same, I always had the same curved dagger attached to my hip, a map of a land I didn't know, a compass and a flask of what I assumed was water.

It took awhile but I got into an almost normal routine of forgetfulness and replaying the horrors of my own imagination until one day it all just stopped.

There were no more dreams, just darkness and sounds to indicate movement. It was like I had gone blind and my sense of hearing had been sharpened tenfold, I could hear something that seemed far off shuffling in a circular manner around me. It would pause every once in a while hesitant and then continue its patrol. Even though it freaked me out to begin with, it gave off a predatory aura, it didn't grow closer or seem to direct it's malicious intent on me so it became almost reassuring and calming. It was the only proof I had that I was still alive and somewhere with other beings. Even those noises seemed to fade after awhile though and I was left in an empty void. No noises. Nothing to look at.

I had no clue how long I was left in limbo after that, just floating around in the inky abyss of nothing. Having absolutely no way of telling the time I had no clue how long I had spent just drifting but it wouldn't take a genius to tell you it had been too long to be healthy. I started to believe I was in a coma. I could still feel things around me, I could sometimes feel things that shouldn't have been there like an immense pain sometimes in my arms or legs for awhile causing me to writhe around in silence as I had to bare the agony patiently as it taunted me with the reminder that I was still alive. Others were the gentle caresses of something warm on my face that would fill me with comfort and security. Both were terrifying in equal quantity as I couldn't see nor could I hear what these sensations was being caused by.

So when everything slowly started to get brighter again I didn't know how to react so I just sat where I was and waited. It was like a monochromatic sunrise, which even without the colours looked magnificent and dramatic. Everything getting brighter until I had to squeeze my eyes shut and put my hands over them to protect them from the light. 

Once the light had faded enough for me to be able to look  I re-opened my eyes to be met with many shades of green, of life.

I was awake again.