Twenty-nine steps. That’s how long it takes until I am close to the Lake. At the tips of my shoes, I can see the separation between the dry grass and the damp, bloodier one.
The noise becomes pure hissing. And there, in the distance, I see a shadow over the Lake. Something is reflected within it.An unnatural force pushes me forward, but I resist it, my foot hovering over the damp grass.
Suddenly, everything freezes. Pure silence envelops the area. Even the people in the back stop moving, some freezing mid-air, others in odd positions.
I step back, looking wildly around. Only I seem to be unaffected.
This is bad…
“Yes, this is bad,” a voice echoes from the Lake.
A whirlpool forms at the surface of the water. Waves gather, and from the eye of that whirlpool, a bloody figure rises. Water cascades down her body, staining everything red. There are no distinct features, nothing to identify her.
It’s not that individual who entered the Lake, I realize immediately.
“No, I am not,” she confirms, reading my thoughts.
“W-who are you?” I ask startled.
A malevolent smile spreads across her face.
“The sum of all your sins; the consequence of all your misdeeds.”
“W-what?”
“How have the last three thousand years treated you?”
I blink, confused by her question.
“Not that bad, I see,” she muses. “Not to worry, there’s another three thousand years of misery waiting for you.” She smirks.
“All. Of. Your. Own Doing.”
14
Aringing in my ears startles me awake. My eyes snap open and I look wildly around me.
There’s no bloody figure from the Lake. No threatening presence.
I sigh in relief. It was just a dream. A bad, bad dream.
“It wasn’t a dream,” a voice echoes in my mind.
I startle and suddenly get up. “Who’s there?”
“Are you alright, Nykander?” Elysand asks as he appears by my side.
I look around in confusion.
“I... I think so.”
“You will be among those standing in the back if anything happens. Don’t worry too much.”
“Alright.” I nod, still searching for the source of the sound.
With a smile, he leaves.
The voice doesn’t return. I ask questions, both silently, in my mind, and whispered under my breath. For hours on end, I question whether I’ve truly gone mad.
