The Blessed

CHAPTER SEVEN

That night I had another dream.

This time I'm in a forest. The early morning sunlight pierces the trees in shafts and casts amorphous shapes on the wild earth.

The steady chirps and tweets of birds fills the otherwise silent area. The air is steady, crisp, and warm on my skin. I take a careful step and crouch behind a tree.

My eyes are glued to a young buck grazing on an oasis of green grass.

Its lack of urgency shows that it's oblivious to my presence. My breathing is steady, but my palms are sweaty. I'm annoyed by the crunch of dried leaves as I shift my weight to get a better look at the target. I reach for the bow on my back. As I reach for the arrow hanging from a string on my waist, I catch something in my peripheral vision.

At first, I think it's a King cobra, judging by the length of its body and the shape of the serpent's head. But the colours on its body are...mysterious.

Predominantly glossy black with intricate white swirls and zig-zags along its top and sides. It stops a few inches from my person before raising half of its body off the ground. I feel the sweat bead on my forehead and my armpits itch as I see my tiny reflection in its four beady eyes.

Its head splits open, strands of black mucus connecting four gray pieces of flesh. Four large fangs sit and hang at end of eight rows of smaller yet equally sharp teeth. This thing is not a snake, it's an Invader. But how did it sneak past the barrier, the reserve is supposed to be full-proof from the Invaders.

But, that doesn't matter now.

It's less than an arms-length away.

My head collides with the trunk of the tree as I fall back. Leaves fall from above. The buck jerks its head then disappears into the surrounding thicket. The serpent inches closer and hisses aggressively, an otherworldly sound that makes my spine tingle.

I hold my arrow before me and pray for my family's protection.

Then, a blinding white light swoops past and snatches up the Invader.

Perched on a high branch, the Invader writhes and twists beneath the talons of a large white bird. The bird's white feathers gleam brilliantly in the sunlight. It’s long, curved beak and the crown-like spike on its head are the same color as its talons.

The bird stretches out the Invader against its retaliations. Relentlessly, it plunges its beak into the Invader’s gut. Within moments it is torn to shreds. The snake gives its last hisses as sleek pieces of its body hang from its place of execution. The bird releases the corpse. It crashes lifelessly onto the ground below like a tossed length of rope.

The bird spreads its wings, revealing an obsidian-colored underside. It takes flight, gracefully gliding through the crooked mess of branches.

Then, I'm in a cavern.

Above me is a round opening that reveals the star-littered night sky. At the center of the cavern is a round table made from stone. It looks like a natural formation, like a growth on the Earth's surface rather than a man-made construction. Around it are five people, excluding me.

A woman with delicate features. A tall muscular man with long blonde hair and a full beard. A slender man with copper brown skin. A woman with smoldering green eyes and a short man, his skin nearly as dark as my own.

That's when he appears, the Being.

Its milk-white armor is similar to that of Victorian knights. Golden and black edges at the edge of its plates. On its back is a third arm with a floating blue orb in its hand. In its right hand is a long golden pole with a flaming crescent blade at its end. In its left hand a bright lantern.

The Being lands on the rise.

It stretches out its left hand...