Private Tales Only For A Day

[Lyta]

Lyta gave an almost sad smile.

"I would not have it any other way."

As they hurried up the hill towards the farm Lyta kept the creatures at bay with smaller, more controlled blasts of power that also kept them lusting for more. The sounds of their odd chittering filled the night as the pair finally entered the abandoned farmhouse. This time when Lyta stepped into the farmhouse an image of the farmhouse as it stood in the dreamscape briefly crossed her mind, the two planes of existence layering over one another. She sucked in a breath to see it how the people of the town remembered it; a place of celebration. People must have used the spot to get married for it was decorated so in the Dreamscape.

"I saw someone - in the Dreamscape. There were Nightmares there too," she explained in the eerie quiet as they waited for the monsters. "But I do not think it was Agnes. Agnes was a woman of this village but whoever was in the dream... I think they knew me."

She could of course be wrong but she suspected Agnes was a mere pawn for the greater mastermind beyond.

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Never did Mikko think he would be worried about what conspired in dreams, as he had never had to dwell on what may lurk there. Not until working with Lyta did he realise the importance of a Guardian of Dream, and the role herself, her mother, and her mother before her, have been serving for not just Valenntenia, but the surrounds.

It stretched farther than their home, took her to places all over Arethil perhaps, but still, he worried for her.

"If not Agnes... can we trust it?" He asked in a hushed tone, looking back at the direction of the town and the distanced cries of Nightmares following. They were growing closer, and his instincts wanted him to stand before her and protect her, but Lyta had proven she had more of an affect over them than he could ever work.

 

[Lyta]

Clack, clack, clack.

Nightmarish claws crept across the charred floorboards and deteriorating roof. Enough of them that as they closed in they blotted out the stars that had been visible between the cracks of the barn. She took a deep breath and let herself begin to take on more of the runes magic. More than she ever had before.

"No," she replied softly. "If anything, I think they are more of a threat than Agnes."

Clack, clack, clack.

"Mikko, if this fails you must take the rune back to Solomon. Now I need you to wait outside."

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

What words could he leave with her to give her strength for what was to come?

He looked to her, to the Guardian beginning to wield a power he could not begin to understand, and thought it best that he not cloud her mind with any doubts or pretty words. Mikko smiled, nodding to her, and said, "Now the biggest threat is you."

Lyta who was frail, unable to keep muscle on her being, was stronger than he was at this moment. With a shuddering breath, he listened to her instruction and made for the outside, behind where Lyta stood her ground. His dark eyes were always on her, unable to look away and leave her truly alone.

Through the burned down farmhouse, the supports that stood groaned as the Nightmares began to creep into the carcass of an old family home, and like a beacon, made for the Guardian wielding the Stone of Dreams.

 

[Lyta]

Lyta let out a relieved sigh when Mikko obeyed. Brom would have argued with her before storming out, but not before she would have had to remind him who exactly she was.

"Come out, I can sense you," she called to the Nightmares. From the shadows they emerged, hesitant but eager. Some licked their lips whilst others stared at her with unblinking red eyes. Others dragged behind limbs that the villagers had managed to hurt. They seemed emboldened now Mikko was not here with his sharp steel. Lyta plunged deeper and deeper into that well of power the rune gave her access to, drawing it up and into herself until she could feel her skin begin to itch and burn. Still the creatures drew closer until one could reach out and gently trail a small part of its pinser down her cheek.

As it did so the barn exploded with an illuminating white and gold light.

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Mikko threw himself to the side, startled and surprised by the burst of bright light. It was all he could do to shield himself, to not become blind to the blinding aura Lyta put out into the world.

Creatures screamed, an agony he would never forget hearing. He closed his eyes, not opening them until the screams and cries stopped, and he figured that was the last of Lyta power getting rid of them all.

"Lyta..." Mikko rubbed his eyes, got to his feet and looked into the barn. He no longer had a visual of her, and so, Mikko stepped into the barn and looked for the Guardian.

 

[Lyta]

When the light faded, Mikko would find the barn completely gone and with it the Nightmares within. As he approached he would find that it was not just the barn that had been scrubbed clean from the earth, but the odd symbol too. All that remained were a few pieces of debris and a lone figure, crumpled in the middle.

Breathing. But only just.

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

"Lyta!"

He was at her side faster than he ever thought possible, but he propped her to lay on her back. He dropped his ear to her lips, listening for her breath and grimacing at how weak it sounded. So then he checked her pulse, two fingers finding the vein at her neck and waited for that weakened beating of her heart.

Ancients, no. She was exhausted, too tired to recover.

It was his duty to protect her, to keep her safe.

Mikko brushed her golden hair from her face, placed one hand above her sternum and the other atop of it. With measured breaths, he began to press and release, counting in his head before pausing. He repeated this, dropped his ear to listen for her lungs and her breath at her lips. It was growing stronger, but he knew Lyta was spent.

She would not die.

He moved his arms beneath her body, lifted her as he moved to stand and adjusted his hold on her before walking them back to the village. "Dream, Lyta. Rest. You deserve it, and you deserve to sleep in a bed." He promised her.