A Place to Belong

Chapter 13: Nightmares

Several hours passed, Braerka was left to her own thoughts and devices, which in many ways wasn't good. She spent the first while filling in her journal, feelings, thoughts and questions, things she wanted to express but couldn't, or wouldn't. Then she riffled through the assassination contract for what seemed the millionth time.

It was as though she was trying to will the name of her target to vanish or change at least. She read the last line, 'at the request of 'blank'', she sighed, whoever wanted him dead clearly wanted it done secretly and now it would never be done, not by her hand anyway, unless there was a very good reason. She folded it at its creases as slipped it back into bag.

She sat for a while, staring into space, thinking of things, nothing in particular just things. She soon found herself battling with her eye eyelids and they tried to flutter closed. She knew she needed the rest, but she was on watch, what Thorin would think if he woke to see her asleep. She smacked her cheeks gently to keep herself awake, but to no avail she was losing her battle with fatigue and was slipping into the lands of dreams. As her eyes shut tight, she prayed for her rest to be quick.

Her subconscious mind opened on a field of black. There was nothing for miles in every direction, Braerka stood bewildered in her dreamland; never before had this happened.

As she thought it the scene morphed into a raging terror. The streets were mobbed with people and she was stuck in the middle, forced to watch as her mind processed it all.

It was like before, the scenes were fleeing and quick lasting less than a couple of seconds. They morphed and phased, colourless and mute, from scene to scene, blurring and clearing she had no time to register their contents.

It finally stopped on a spectacle too familiar for comfort. The ground was stained red and a battle raged around her, she was running. Then she was stuck facing a wall, she heard muffled voices call for her, she turned to be engulfed by a wall of flames, the heat licked at her flesh and she tried to scream but there was no sound.

A blinding light took her sight and she was left in darkness once again. Light slowly returned, though the scene was still bland of colour. She stood unharmed in the now calm battlefield, looking at the ground she saw arrows protrude from both living and dead and deformed bodies were strewn across the ground.

In the distance the faint clashing and clanging of brandished swords could still be heard, hammers pounded and bashed. She found herself trudging through the blood-soaked mud and towards the racket.

Her eyes flicked from face to face as she traversed the once vigorous battleground, their faces blurred and unknown. What more could she expect from a dream?

Suddenly all noises stopped. She stopped her advance and spun on the spot, but there was nothing, the image began to fade and the blackness swarmed her again, her vision was stolen and she felt weightless; as if floating in the void between worlds.

She heard voices faint but angry, gentle but serious. She listened to the unknown voices as they chanted in unison.

"You are the Sovereign! Only you can manipulate its power! But you are weak; you will sacrifice what is not truly yours! You must let go of all you know, give in to control! Save him!"

She listened as they faded, a high-pitched whirr sounded and again all was black, she was back on the battlefield, her head spinning.

What was all this, what did it mean? She stood on the frozen battlefield, speechless her core aching, this was too much for any one person to witness. She heard a noise behind her, a rustling of metal and chain mail, lazily she turned. Her eyes meet the falling shadow of an axe and the final dark spell fell. This nightmare was ending, another beginning; it was time for her to wake up.