The soft sound of the stream below paired with the feeling of Ed’s fur in his fingers was calming. Even though, by now, Sebastian knew that it was the prelude to the most unsettling dream he’d ever known. Something seemed different this time though.

He turned to look over where he knew the two small wolves were playing by the water. He saw the exact moment that the smallest one accidentally tipped the other into the water. He looked to where some other wolves were lounging or walking. Just taking in the moonlight as they always did. Nothing looked different but he still felt off.

Then, for the first time, Sebastian looked down at his own body. That looked the same too. He was wearing some casual clothes he could recognize. But there was something different on his chest. That something, he realized, was actually a necklace that he was wearing. Now that he was aware of it, he could feel the cord of it on the back of his neck.

He looked at it closer and then nearly gasped in shock. It was a wolf’s face with gemstone eyes. The same wolf’s face he’d seen earlier in Cassandra’s jewellery box. Why was he wearing this?

Before he could think about it further than that, he heard Edmund growl. He looked up and watched as the same horrifying wolves as always emerged from the shadows on the other side of the stream. The wolves on his and Ed’s side gathered close by again. Now though, Sebastian noticed that a few were standing near him particularly. And the pair of smaller wolves who came to him for comfort were urging him away from the conflict.

Sebastian’s heart clenched as he realized they were trying to protect him. These wolves knew him and obviously cared that he was safe. He couldn’t understand why or how but it gave him that sense of wanting to do something to help and protect them instead.

The light from the moon moved his attention to the sky. But somehow, he simultaneously noticed a light from the necklace he was wearing. The gemstones were glowing blue. Bright, brilliant blue, the same as Edmund’s eyes did.

Sebastian reached, this time for the necklace. The light from it and the moon grew brighter. He heard a howling and growling all around him as the world became too bright for him to make things out.

“Here is your destiny, Young One.”

A voice, or voices, echoed in the blue-white void.

“You must take caution and remain vigilant. The Tyrant is rising.”

“I- What?” Sebastian questioned.

“Here is your destiny.”

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“Who are you?”

“You must take caution and remain vigilant.”

The light began to fade and Seb felt panicked as it did.

“The Tyrant is rising.”

“Wait!” Sebastian reached out blindly.

“Here is--”

Thud. Seb found himself on the floor of Edmund’s room. The other boy was instantly at his side, asking if he was alright and checking for bumps or bruises. Sebastian felt out of breath and tears were threatening to escape him. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to cry, but everything felt so damn confusing, he didn’t know what else to do.

Edmund lifted him gently and hugged him to his chest. “It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m here, you’re safe. We're both safe. Everything’s okay.”

A heart-wrenching sob escaped Seb and that was all it took for him to properly break down in Ed’s arms. The relief of being held while he felt so weak was inexplainable. How many days now hadn’t he wished that dream to change? Granted, he didn’t mean like this. Perhaps it wasn’t as disorientating as the others. The usual scenes that came after the moon hadn’t appeared tonight. Just blinding light and that voice. Who was it? What was it?

When his tears and sobs eventually subsided, Sebastian remained half-laying on the floor with Edmund holding him firm and gentle. Ed had stopped whispering the reassurances but rubbing calming circles in Seb’s back. It felt peaceful and safe. Quite a change from how Sebastian had previously felt when waking up.

“Thank you.”

Edmund paused. “For?”

“This. Being my friend. Everything,” Sebastian shrugged weakly. “You do so much for me.”

“And you do the same in kind. Remember when I broke down about being a werewolf.”

“Still, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. And thank you for all you do too.”

Seb nodded weakly and moved to somehow bury himself deeper in Ed’s grasp. “The dream changed.”

Edmund tensed a moment but went back to rubbing circles in Sebastian’s back. “What happened?”

He took a shaky breath and recounted the events of what had happened to Ed. By the time he finished, he could hear birds chirping outside, greeting the sunrise. How long had the two of them been on the floor now? He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t feel tired. Or, perhaps, he didn’t feel like risking dreamland again just yet.

“Do you feel tired?” He asked Edmund, who shook his head no in reply.

“If anything, I feel hungry. How about I make us something nice for breakfast.”

Sebastian nodded. “Breakfast sounds good.”

Anything to distract him right now sounded good. He followed Ed down to the kitchen almost on auto pilot. It wasn’t until he’d been given a cup of coffee that his brain properly woke out of its dissociated state. If he kept on losing sleep then gods only know how much worse his focus would become.

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to help you and your dad finish with the attic today.”

“That’s fine. You should rest, even if you can’t sleep,” Edmund advised. “You already helped with the majority of things yesterday so dad and I should be able to handle things on our own. As long as we don’t encounter any more spiders.”

Sebastian laughed and felt infinitely grateful that he had Ed in his life. He couldn’t imagine facing any of this on his own. He was terrified of whatever his dreams seemed to be warning him about, but with Edmund by his side, he felt he could face anything.