Andgiet Scinn: Oneirophobia

XXVI

The night terrors of her being tortured had continued on and on, she could feel the pain and seemed so real that going to sleep terrifies her. Each kick she got felt like her ribs broke, each punch she received made her taste the metallic tang of blood in her mouth, each time she got whipped she could feel her flesh tearing open and the sting of her bloody and bruised body hitting the ground was enough to jolt her awake.

The dreams got worse and worse as each night passed, which she was sure was caused by her growing fear of going to sleep, for she was going to see those events once more. She forced herself to stay awake, as much as possible but during the times she would eventually fall into slumber. She was taken back to that dark cell, she still refused to scream for them to which they laughed at her while they continued to torment her.

It was crazy for her to become afraid of a dream but when something seems so real, she couldn't help but feel fear coursing through her at the very thought.

"Sandra, do you have anything to help with night terrors?" Altheia asked as soon as she entered the court physician's chambers. Sandra was in front of a cauldron seemingly brewing something.

"Be with you in a second. On second thought, mind passing me a bottle of ghost liver? It's over there by the self beside the door" Was all Sandra said as she continued to concoct whatever it was she was concocting. She added something that caused the cauldron to smoke heavily as though it had been lit on fire.

Altheia stopped herself from asking if ghosts really did have liver and how do you extract one. She jumped when the cauldron suddenly caught fire before it calmed down and started boiling. She then just looked for what Aide was asking for before handing it over to her, she had thought witchcraft was cool in the past but now she was afraid something would end up getting burned. Looking over the cauldron, that seemed to make sad faces with the way the bubbles formed. When Aide added the ghost liver into the seemingly depressed potion, it calmed down and was a colour of silvery white stars that seemed to swirl within the cauldron. She then dipped a vial into it, then clasping it close before handing it to Altheia. The latter only looked at her with a confused facial expression.

"I had a feeling you'd be asking for one, so I made one minutes before you arrived. Just add two drops to your tea before you sleep. And don't give me that face, you won't taste the ghost liver no worries." Sandra laughed as she saw the disgusted expression on Altheia's face. Before cupping the young lady's cheeks and looking into her eyes. Sighing as she saw just how sleep deprived Altheia was, she knew that these dreams were taking a toll on her but she can't do anything to stop them she can only relieve them for a bit.

Altheia went into the library to be able to do some reading as there was nothing that day for her to attend to. Staying by one of the tables as she took out a book that was a memoir from the days of old. She was fascinated by the stories of the Fashi, deities and other mythical creatures that seemed to have died out as the centuries passed.

She passed by an image of the deities of Qaeven, the Seven main deities were; Har, who ruled the skies. Eaux, who ruled over the waters. Navi, who ruled the underworld. Lyraez who ruled over Illusions. Svet, who ruled over Justice. Salm, who ruled over the freedom and Heiwa, who ruled over peace. They kept the balance in the world according to the book.

The page was torn not showing the supposed painting of the deities. As she read on, Lyraez was later called the god of trickery after millennia, after he mostly used his abilities to give illusions to humans to show them what they desired the most. It was until the war between the gods that. Altheia tried hard to continue reading only to find herself falling asleep.

When she opened her eyes she found herself being dragged around once more. Until she was thrown once more towards a wall, her eyes badly beaten that she could not even see what was happening all she felt was a piercing pain on her shoulder which caused her to scream. The last thing she heard was her scream and a laugh, which then caused her to jolt up screaming on the chair in the library.

"Is everything alright, your highness?" The sound of the voice made her jump on her chair before she saw it was only Warin asking her. She nodded before she handed him the books and headed back to her chambers.

Altheia then ventured back to her chamber with the new promise of finally being able to fall asleep, so she ordered someone to bring her tea. As she waited she stared far into the distance wondering why her dreams felt so real. When the tea arrived she did as Aide had told her and placed three drops before taking a sip, it made her feel sleepy the more she drank. When she was finished she laid down on her bed, her eyes slowly closing as slumber had fully hugged her and brought her neverland.

She did not dream of anything for the first few minutes, finally thinking that the night terrors were finally over. Only this time she found herself under water in her dream having a hard time breathing. She fought as she felt like she was drowning, no matter how many times she tried to convince herself it was only a dream. The terrors that haunt her would not stop and seemed to only progress.

"Is she awake yet? I want her to be awake when I do it." She heard a man's distorted voice.

"Are you sure we can do that?" The other said as he slapped her face, she could feel the pain of the slap on her face but she was still unable to move.

Everything seemed hazy to her, unable to fully react as they slapped her face trying to make sure she was still alive.

"Lord Myrkur said we can do anything we wish. He's done playing with her since she's useless now. I think you killed her." Another one said as he moved forward to feel for her pulse. They pulled her up once more and dunked her head into a barrel full of water, this was the worst as she couldn't breathe.

It woke her up once again, but this time when she woke up she still felt as though she was underwater and couldn't breathe for a few seconds. It stopped afterwards but she was getting frustrated as both seemed like reality. One more painful than the other, she remembered the bruises that appeared out of nowhere the other day. Rolling up her sleeves, seeing her bruised arm she touched it a bit trying to feel tenderness or pain from it.

She stared at it as she added more pressure not feeling any pain. Her eyebrows furrowing in confusion, this could not possibly be the dream. No, this was reality. Yes, her torment was simply in her dream, nothing but an illusion of the trauma she had been through while in Langen.

Standing up to test her theory, trying to see if she'll feel pain if she kicks her drawer. Her action was stopped by Storm as he purred on her leg, as though coaxing her to go back to sleep. She simply held him by her arms, while petting him then proceeding to kick the drawer hard.

Letting go of Storm, as her anger bubbled up within her at the idea that this was a dream. That all the peace and victory they had was a simple illusion. She stared at Storm touching his fur, which was warm and soft to the touch. She sighed as she walked towards her window, Storm looked at her and ran immediately to her as though reading her mind.

She looked at her cat coldly before she got up on the ledge and was prepared to jump out from her window. Jumping out until a hand caught hers pulling her back.

"Stop, please don't do this." Looking at the person holding her, seeing the one who was killed before her eyes.

"But you're dead." She stuttered, as she looked at him surprised. 

"Altheia!" Saxon exclaimed as Altheia slowly disappeared into dust while he was holding onto her.

A sour expression on his face, as he looked out the window bitterly. "You should have just stayed dreaming."