Overall, the first two years of my new life were spent bearing witness to Rheka’s exploits. Not only in the house she lived in, but also the areas around it. Especially right after her first birthday when she learned how to walk somewhat consistently. There wasn’t a big celebration or anything when it came around, but her mother made sure to inform her about the fact that she’d been alive for exactly a year then, and that she was grateful for it.

Her father Urs had left home again a couple of months after I first got to meet him. If I had to take a guess, I’d say his soldierly duties were calling for him once more. Tough life, but that’s how it was when you sold your soul to the military.

With the father out of the house there were 2 watchful eyes less to oversee what Rheka and I were up to. Visla chose to let her daughter fool around to her heart's content while the grandfather spent most of his time in the basement or away from home. Which apparently meant that it was now my sole task to watch over her. Not that I cared much. Having to follow her around wherever she went, was slowly starting to piss me off. And no trinket was compensation enough for that. Every time I took my eyes off her, she vanished. I tried calling out, but the sounds I made were pathetic - just growls and high-pitched birdlike noises. She’d reappear soon enough, laughing at me like it was a game. I couldn’t even give her a piece of my mind. Not being able to speak sucked.

The frustration was building up, but I still didn’t feel like fighting it. Not yet.

Night after night I’d experience the same strange dreams. Of course, I’d forget about them over the course of the day, regardless of how intense they’d turn out sometimes. I’d be all by myself, in pitch-black darkness with a voice reaching out to me. It was irritating to recall my memory of it every damn day. But what was I supposed to do? Just another thing I couldn’t control.

Luckily though, or maybe not so much, my frustration would find its end on a particularly tiring day’s evening.

Rheka had spent it like any other, knocking over things she shouldn’t in places she wasn’t supposed to be. Cleaning up after her was as much a joy as it was a chore. Well not for me, I just stole shit. But for her mother, who I, as the good caretaker that I was, alerted whenever things went wrong. But Visla didn’t mind, she rather enjoyed watching her daughter interact with and explore everything around her. I guess it was nice to see a kid being able to grow up without a worry in the world for once.

That night, Rheka acted even more hyper than usual. Long past bedtime, after the house had finally gone quiet and I went to rest atop my pile of garbage, I could still hear her shuffling about in her bed. But I didn’t pay it any more attention. “Nothing out of the ordinary.” I thought and dozed off. I was too tired to care.

Same dream as always. Have you ever experienced that odd feeling, where you wake up and need to pause for a moment, because you need to collect your thoughts and figure out if the present is reality or still a dream? Yeah that. I was experiencing that exact feeling right then. Surreal doesn’t even begin to describe it.

I could see myself, in all my lizardry glory of course. Sleeping, with a vivid light shining onto me. “Where? Where am I?” Am I... still dreaming? I could clearly hear myself talking, which was sensational, since the only sounds I had made so far were the occasional growls and high-pitched birdlike noises I’d make to alert Rheka’s mother. My supposed voice was something that I’d have to get used to. “Oh? Hello?” I sensed someone’s presence. Who is it? Someone I know? I couldn’t pinpoint it. My memory was failing me.

I awoke with my heart pounding rapidly. My vision focused as I felt the adrenaline rushing through my body. Something's incredibly off.

I looked around the room. Rheka was gone.

Wha-? Where?

The window stood wide open.

Oh, come on.

I ran. As fast as I could. I didn’t remember how I’d made it out the window safely, but it didn’t matter. All I could think about was to hurry. I didn’t know where I was headed, but I was travelling there at an incredible speed, guided only by my instincts. The thing that finally snapped me out of my focus was a screech so loud and unique, I’d not forget it until the end of my days. I had ended up in a forest. The only forest you could spot from the rooftop of our house. I remembered it was situated on the outskirts of the village, where it covered some of its supposed border.

That screech again. I was so small now, and everything towered over me. It was strange how tiny I felt in this new form, how different the world seemed. The mass of seemingly gigantic trees around me really put things into perspective. If the sky had been cloudy that night, I’d have had no light to orientate myself with.

After a good five minutes of battling through the woodwork I reached a clearing. There she was. Not only had I found Rheka, but also the source of all the screeching – an oversized bird. At first glance it appeared fairly normal. A bit on the large side in terms of scale maybe. But from far away and at night one might assume it to be some sort of comically large raven or crow. They’d most likely quickly change their mind however, when that feathered friend eventually towered over them. This was no ordinary avian, but more so a dangerous beast. As it spread its wings, they neatly spanned from one end of the clearing to the other. The animal’s long neck as well as the feathered crest on its head had a gleam of bright blue around them. While most of the bird’s coat was black in color, the feathers on its wings and tail shined in a distinctive shade of purple. I couldn’t help but pause in astonishment as this creature unfolded itself before me.

Apparently though, I wasn’t the only one in awe of this feathered beast, as Rheka stood merely a dozen meters in front of it. From what I could see, she was most likely sleepwalking, none the wiser of what was playing out before her. If I ever needed the perfect picture example for David vs. Goliath, then this would be it. This girl never needed any help with getting herself into trouble.

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Damn it. I didn’t sign up for this!

A mysterious purple fire began flashing from its eyes. I wasn’t going to wait and find out what the mystery behind it was, so I dashed towards Rheka in hopes of getting out of this situation as quickly as possible. My plan was immediately thwarted, as once again that deafening scream roared through the forest. What followed was a sudden burst of dazzling energy coming our way, the likes of which I had never seen anything even remotely similar to before. Just seconds prior, I had successfully managed to get a hold of Rheka, who was still visibly asleep.

As I bumped into her, I felt energy rush through me, as if my whole body had just simultaneously fallen asleep and woken up again. That weird fuzzy feeling. Orbs of light started to pulsate around me, blinding my sight even further. They sprang up from around me before swiftly heading for her. One by one, the orbs dissipated, before Rheka slowly raised her hand towards the purple light that was about to engulf us.

What is even going on!?

Is this it?

Is this how it ends?

Do I get to wake up now?

My panicky thoughts were interrupted, as the beam of energy collided with Rheka’s hand in an explosion of light accompanied by the sound of glass shattering. What followed was a shock wave of air blasting in all directions through the forest. The purple beam of light vanished and to my surprise, Rheka and I were unharmed.

What the hell?

That thing’s first attack had been a failure, but I highly doubted it would be its last. “Okay, time to dip!” Without missing a beat, I bumped into Rheka again, this time with more force, incentivizing her to run away with me. That bump finally snapped her out of her supposed sleep, upon which her immediate response was to freeze and stare in awe.

Wait, aren’t you supposed to cry or something?!

I thought she’d be pissing her pants like I'd been right about then, but instead this girl was excited rather than frightened. Regardless, we were screwed. I couldn’t get her to move an inch. And I wasn’t going to leave by myself either. Could we even outrun this thing in the first place? No way in hell could we cover that distance before we’d get blasted down. Think. Think you moron! Oh lord. Here it comes! As if guided by instinct, I positioned myself in front of Rheka, facing towards the burst of purple energy headed our way. Just this once I wanted to do things right. Die standing and face my problems, rather than living a life running away from them.

This is it... I suppose! What a strange dream this was, I thought, as the light enveloped us.

For a brief moment I was blind. All I could see was white as if I had already entered nirvana. Or purgatory I suppose. And yet, I, or rather we, weren’t dead. As the light started to fade slowly, I could make out a silhouette before me. Something – someone had shielded us, in a way similar to Rheka’s attempt earlier. It was none other than grumpy grandpa Vrintas! He left his basement for once in his life to save his granddaughter, how kind! Sarcasm aside, relief washed over me. I didn’t understand how he had and wanted to save us, but at least it looked as though the man knew what he was doing. Unlike some other children and reptilians in this forest.

I regained my vision just in time to brace myself for the next inevitable attack. An inferno of fire appeared before the old man, seemingly out of thin air. Leaves that had fluttered through the air just seconds before, evaporated immediately, as all trees around us began to smoke and a wave of melting heat came over me. Still shielding Rheka, I held my head up high, struggling to keep my eyes open against the blazing flames.

Fire and light merged as the orange met the purple. The old man really knew how to do an impressive firework show. I was genuinely surprised how I hadn’t entirely lost my vision yet, after being exposed to so much blinding light in such a brief period of time. Only looking at your phone screen during the night could top this.

I gave up on trying to figure out what was going on. Rather, I tried to embrace it. Dream or not, it was supernatural regardless.

“What in Enk’s name are you waiting for son? Run!” the old man shouted towards me, as he put a ring onto his finger. Right. Right. I hurled Rheka onto my back and struggled my way towards safety. It took us a bit to find our way. Let’s just say navigating was not really my strong suit. As soon as we’d finally left the forest, I crumbled to the ground like a sack of potatoes. This girl was barely 3 years old at this point, yet already weighed what felt like a good metric ton.

Still exhausted, I quickly scanned our surroundings. By the looks of it, we'd exited the forest right about where I came in earlier. Everything hurt. I felt like I’d just run a whole marathon and broken down at the very end.

What the hell just happened? I got up and turned around to check on Rheka. Surprisingly enough, she began to laugh shortly after I took off with her.

“Woods!”

Woods?

She yanked on my head. “Back into woods!” she said with the tiny wings on her head flapping vigorously.

You want to go back in there?! My child, are you insane?! I resisted her yanking before she began to tear up.

“Gran...pa...”

Ah I get it. Alright then. Let’s think about this. There was no more noise coming out of the forest, which could mean either good or bad things. Good would mean gramps had managed to somehow take down the beast. Probably with the help of the comical number of rings he kept pulling out of his coat. Was that what one might consider as magic? I’ve always had the feeling something otherworldly was at play here. Maybe I’d already witnessed it before but chose to ignore it and stay in denial. But really? Magic?

And then the old man stepped out of the forest. His body was littered with burn marks and bruises and his clothes were in shreds. “I haven’t felt this alive in years!” he proclaimed wholeheartedly. Without a second thought Rheka rushed towards him, wrapping herself around his knee. And for the first time in my life, I saw the old man crack a smile, as he reached down to give his granddaughter a pat on the head. This was nothing like the old man I knew. Usually, he’d show no emotion at all, walking through the house like the deadpan ghost I thought he was. I misjudged him completely, huh. I thought as I watched gramps passionately embrace his granddaughter. No words were exchanged between the two. Subsequently he turned towards me, which surprised me a bit.

“You did well in there. I know you understand some of what I’m saying.” He brushed some ashes off me before reaching for my head. “People often underestimate your kind, but I’ve seen many times how capable you Forpal can be.” He paused. “You remind me... of an old friend...” “Not that it matters.” he mumbled with a smile on his face. “What do you children say, should we head home?”

I heard Rheka’s hair wings beat in response.

“Yes! Home!” she said.

And with that, the day finally came to pass with more questions raised than answered. It was amusing to see how my theory had been proven right in the end. I felt like I'd always known. Known that this wasn't my world. It was a different one.

A world filled to the brim with the supernatural... and scary birds.