"Siya, pick up your sword." Mara cried out to me.

My head was foggy. I was fully conscious, but it was like someone else was moving my body. 'My sword…'

As I looked down, a massive greatsword suddenly appeared on the ground at my feet. It was attached to a spear shaft, only making it more unwieldy. 'She wants me to fight her…'

Her eyes began to glow bright red as they became bloodshot, and I felt an uncontrollable fear take over my body. "Now Die!" she yelled.

Her body moved like that of a starving animal, charging at me for its next meal. I struck her four times, managing to evade her advances, but she deflected one of my attacks and in an instant, I could feel my arm tearing away from my body.

Before I could even process what was happening, she was back to the position she was in at the start of the fight, several yards away.

She whipped the blood off of her sword and effortlessly twirled the blade that appeared even larger than her.

'Thats… My blood…' I looked down to see my dismembered arm lying on the ground. With no other options, I tightened my grip on the weapon I was given and prepared to fight for my life.

In a flash she was standing next to me, slicing at my neck…

…

I sat straight up, gasping for air and clawing at my own throat, trying to cover the wound. 'It's… not there.'

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It was too dark to see my hand in front of my face, but I could feel the soft fur blanket against my cold sweating hands. Without a doubt, I was in my bed. 'It was just a dream then…'

The cold air brushed against my face as it blew open the window. 'Just another nightmare…'

It wasn't uncommon for me to have bad dreams. Some I forgot, like any other dream, but that one felt different, it was burned into my mind. Every detail down to the glint of my blade and the way it felt in my hands.

I could feel sweat trickling down my body. My chest was burning as the wind chilled me to the bone, blowing against my wet skin. 'I need to move…' I jumped out of bed, feeling too uneasy to stay still. My eyes were still heavy and ached from straining to try and see in the dark.

'I wonder what time it is.'

To clear my mind I went down to the well and Splashed some water on my face. It made me feel more at ease, but my heart wouldn't stop racing.

Staring back at the house, I grabbed my arm where it was slashed off in my dream. 'I have no reason to think she would try to kill me before I failed. Even if she doesn't act like it, she is my mother, that has to count for something, doesn't it? She wouldn't actually…'

As I squeezed my arm my blood pressure increased, and the surge caused my arm to ache where Zu had struck it. 'No. I don't see that ever being a reality. If Mara ever does have to kill me, she would do it in one hit.'

It was a strange thing to take comfort in, but that was the single thought that assured me my dream was just that, and nothing more.

My heart finally began to calm down as I got back to my room. 'Even if it was just a dream, I won't get any rest if I have to worry about having another one.'

I rolled up the fur blanket and covered myself with the course sack cloth sheet that I would have otherwise used. It wasn't warm, or soft, quite the opposite, but that was the point. 'If I sleep in the cold I don't have dreams. That would be far better…'

I was used to it, the dull aching of my muscles being pressed into the hardwood from my weight. The uncomfortable feeling took my mind off of everything else. It was still hard to get any proper rest, but at least my mind would be at peace.

"Agis… Are you watching?" I whispered. The truth was that a part of me was afraid to fall back asleep. I didn't want to be alone. 'Is this childish too? No… Nobody likes to be alone after a bad dream… Adults just handle it better.'

I rolled over onto my side and curled up to stay warm. 'The thought of him being there looking over me was a nice one, but even if he was watching me, it was different than being next to him.

"If you are, please don't feel bad. I'll make it through this… Just like I always do.``

In the end, I was just reassuring myself, rather than some invisible friend, and it didn't help much at all.

My memories of him were real though, and those brought me comfort. As I thought of sipping warm tea in my soft clothes I began to finally feel at ease. I could remember his appearance perfectly, and seeing his soft smile and piercing gentle eyes, I began to slowly drift off to sleep.