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Prologue
Dreams are not real. They consist of random electrical pulses from your brain,
particularly those sections of your brain responsible for memory. Dreams rarely
make sense. Those few that do seem reasonable have no affect on real life. The
worlds we walk in sleep have nothing to do with the everyday, physical world
we live in. This is what I was taught, and I believed it completely. I hate
it when I'm wrong.
End of Prologue
Location: Sabreur's Room
Time: 7:45 am NST
In the place where the dream-creature had clawed me, a cut marked my arm.
I stood staring at the cut stupidly. It wasn't very deep,
thankfully. I briefly considered how the cut could have gotten there. My saber
was resting on the desk near the foot of the bed, so there was no way I could
have injured myself with it. All the sharp or otherwise dangerous tools I use
were carefully stored away in the lab. My bed contained no sharp edges; I could
have banged my arm on one of its wooden supports, but that would have left a
bruise instead of a cut. After a moment, I concluded that I had cut myself before
going to bed and hadn't noticed.
It was a bit unusual for the cut to still be
bleeding in the morning, but that was nothing some bandages couldn't cure. I
found a small healing potion and some bandages in the first aid kit in the bathroom,
and applied them without much difficulty. I went through my usual morning procedure,
getting properly dressed, strapping on my saber (which looked more battered
than I had thought) and pouring myself a bowl of cereal. Infernus was already
up, and was just finishing some toast and orange juice.
"Hey Infernus, would you mind getting the newspaper
from outsi..." I started. A massive siren wail interrupted me before I could
finish. Infernus looked up at me.
"That's the Neopia Central Air Raid alarm!"
he yelled, making me wince since he was standing only a few feet away. "That
hasn't been used since Sloth invaded!"
I was about to reply that it was probably a mistake
when a hideous racket erupted from outside. A scrabbling noise came from the
roof above, while strange screeching noises surrounded the house. Nearby, someone
screamed.
I immediately dashed for the door, drawing my
saber from its sheath on my back. Infernus sprinted down the hall, and I saw
him coming out of his room with his longsword as I flung open the front door.
I lunged outside and straight into a nightmare.
The creatures from last night's dream filled the sky. Whereas in the dream they
had been vague, blurred things, here they were sharp-edged reality. I could
make out two bat-like wings, spindly clawed arms and legs, a thin, whip-like
tail, and a fang filled mouth. The eyes were strangely absent, but it was obvious
that the creatures could see. Particularly since one was actively plunging towards
a terrified blue Uni on the sidewalk.
"I'd hang back if I was you"
I jumped, startled. I quickly turned towards
the unexpected voice. The man in grey stood there, still dressed in his immaculate
suit, seemingly unconcerned by the chaos around us. The dark red Scorchio at
his side watched the creatures in the air calmly.
"Are you insane!?" I yelled, gesturing at the
creatures wheeling about. One in particular was trying to break the window of
a nearby house, and it was evident from the noise that similar attacks were
taking place all across Neopia Central. "These things are going to tear the
place apart!" The man in grey shrugged and adjusted his sunglasses.
"So what if they do? They aren't after you.
Look." He pointed at the creatures. I looked, holding my blade in a guard position.
I noticed Infernus beside me doing the same with his longsword. Sure enough,
the creatures were completely ignoring me. It was obvious that they saw us -
one landed on a nearby tree, looked down at us, then flew off to begin tearing
shingles off someone's roof.
"Why aren't they attacking us?" Infernus asked,
turning towards the other Scorchio. The Scorchio remained silent, but the man
in grey answered. "Why does it matter? Wait inside, don't draw their attention
and you'll be fine." His words made some sense. The police could handle this
- all I needed to do was take cover. Then the Uni across the street screamed,
flailing its hooves at two attackers.
"CHAAAAAAAAAARGE!" a roar of incoherent fury
rose, and I was only slightly surprised to realize that I was the source. Infernus
ran beside me, his wings and tail spread wide for balance. He leaped into the
air, tackling one of the creatures that was intent on the Uni. The air raid
siren continued its mournful wail as I lunged at the second. My blade found
its target, and I began searching for another foe as the creature fell to the
ground.
A screech announced the premature end of my search,
as a creature plunged towards me from above. I absentmindedly noted that the
flying things were no longer ignoring Infernus and me. Some quick figuring in
my head plotted the creature's rate of descent, and I met it easily with the
business end of my saber.
Infernus got up from pummeling the creature he
had tackled, and smashed aside one that had attempted to sneak up on him from
behind. A yell came from behind me, and I quickly turned, saber ready. Dark
Night stood several yards away, trench coat flapping as he fended off one of
the creatures. I ran to help him, as he seemed to be having trouble.
I shouldn't have bothered. "I'd like you to meet
a good friend of mine," Dark Night growled, suddenly pulling a Cobrall dagger
from an inside pocket of his trench coat. Dark's surprised opponent had no time
to react before it was unceremoniously dispatched. "My friend makes very pointed
arguments, doesn't he?" Dark smirked, turning towards me. His eyes went wide.
"LOOK OUT YOU MORON!" he roared, tackling me to the concrete.
I had been distracted for too long. A creature
swung past, its claws raking the spot where my head had been a second earlier.
It screeched in fury, then swung back for another pass. Dark Night and I struggled
to our feet, holding our weapons ready. The creature lashed its spiked tail
and dove towards us.
It never even got close. Infernus had taken to
the skies when I hadn't been watching. He dropped out of the sky like a falcon,
smashing into the creature from above and driving it into the ground. He left
in there and ran to join us.
"I think that's the last of them," he panted
and grinned.
"Nice interception," I noted, gesturing above
us.
"Yeah," he replied, looking around cautiously.
The noise of battle had stopped, although sirens sounded in the distance as
emergency crews did their work.
"Sorry to disrupt this charming conversation,"
growled Dark Night, his shadowed wings twitching slightly, "but I've got a message
for you." He handed me a rolled up sheet of paper from inside his trench coat.
It was had a wax seal, like some kind of ancient court document. Puzzled, I
broke the seal with my thumb and looked at the contents of the message. The
message was written in an ornate, but very precise script. It was a summons,
brief and to the point.
You are hereby ordered to immediately depart
to Faerieland. Fyora, Queen of the Fae, wishes to speak to you in person. This
is unimaginably urgent. Do not delay. It is not necessary to bring anything
with you, save yourself and your companion, Infernus.
I looked up from the message, stunned. "Fyora
wants to speak to me? But why?" I muttered, rereading the message over and over
again. Dark Night glared at me.
"I'm not sure, but I have an idea," he said,
still glaring darkly. "Those creatures we fought materialized out of nowhere.
They attacked all of Neopia Central. But they spread from a single point. Your
house." He turned to look at the damage surrounding us then paused. The creatures
we had fought had disappeared without a trace. We looked around, puzzled.
"That's really odd," I muttered. I noticed with
some surprise that the man in grey and his Scorchio had also vanished. The Uni
that Infernus and I had saved was standing and looking about in confusion. Dark
Night's angry voice interrupted our pondering.
"It's not enough to prove that you're guilty
of anything, since it could just be coincidence. But be warned. If you're behind
this... You're mine." With that, he turned away and looked up at the sky. I
was about to reply when he continued speaking.
"If you're going to see Fyora, follow me. I've
been ordered to take you to her."
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To be continued...
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