I awakened with my heart pounding in my chest, covered in a cold sweat.

He is going to die.

I sat up in bed.

My heart was beating fast enough to explode. I held my breath as if the slightest inhalation would cause tears to pour out of my eyes like a waterfall. The image of the young man's pale skin illuminated by the moonlight, his body barely twitching, drenched in blood, flashed through my mind. He was going to die. If he was not already dead. Maybe he was already dead. Was he?

Was it real? Was he real?

I felt nauseous. I put my hands on my mouth not to throw up and sat hunched over in bed. My stomach was turned upside down. Was it real? Was he really, really lying there now?

I took a deep breath. I needed to calm down.

The room was silent except for the faint sound of the wind outside. I looked around, trying to shake off the dream but no matter how hard I tried, the image of him lying in his on blood never left my mind. Who was he? Why was he there?

What if I go to the cottage in the morning and see someone unconscious on the stairs?

Unconscious?

What if I see someone dead?

Dead, because I did not help them?

Was my dream a prophecy? Was this really a prophetic dream? Was it a warning or a clue for me to save his life?

Was it from tonight or from the future? How could I know? How could I tell? I felt like I was going to lose my mind.

"It's probably just an ordinary nightmare," Lea's hesitant but reassuring voice echoed in my head once again, "You aren't blessed with visions."

I took deep breaths, tried to calm down, and focus on Lea's words but hers was not the only voice echoing in my head. He is going to die, it also said. He is. Don't you agree?

I felt like the room was freezing though I also desperately needed some cool air somehow. I got out of bed and walked over to the window, staring into the depths of the forest across from our house, into the darkness of the night. The moon was full, high in the sky, so high that no mortal could reach it. Despair engulfed me like a heavy fog. In front of me the tree branches swayed gently in the breeze, the leaves rustled, and their shadow danced on the walls of my room. Everything was calm and peaceful but the fog was planting seeds and growing its roots deep inside of me. The talismanic tattoo, the one Ascula tattooed on my chest when I was little was tingling. I felt a chill running down my spine. It was meant to protect me from the evil spirits and their deceits.

The dream felt so real, so vivid. Was it a trap then? It must have been, right? That young man, lying there in a pool of blood, his face twisted in agony was just an imagination of my dark mind.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Perhaps I was touched by the sad song that the girls sang.

Perhaps, he was the young knight lying on the battlefield.

Why?

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. It was just a dream, I told myself but still, the feeling of unease continued to linger.

I decided to get a glass of water, hoping it would calm my nerves. As I made my way to the kitchen, I wondered if I should wake up and tell my mother about the dream because something inside me told me it wasn't going to be that simple. I didn't want to make a decision alone. I didn't know what to do but my mother always knew what was best, what was reasonable.

What would she say? She would never let me go and check the cottage, that was for sure. She would not even let me leave my room till morning. It was so late. There were no houses near us that I could ask for help. Our house was a 20-25 minute walk from other villages at best, while Ascula's cottage was just as far in the opposite direction. It would take me an hour to get help for a dream.

I filled the glass with cold water and took a sip but I couldn't drink more.

I set the glass down and returned to bed. I laid down, pulled the blankets up to my chin, and closed my eyes, hoping to drift back to sleep but instead, I started shivering in anxiety. I kept turning from one side to the other.

I stood up again, my mind racing with thoughts. I looked out of the window, staring at the moon in the sky. I knew I wasn't supposed to leave the house alone, especially not in the middle of the night but my consciousness kept nagging and nagging at me. Who could I call anyway?

I paced back and forth in my room, trying to figure out what to do. I could wake my mother and tell her about the dream, but I knew it would only worry her. She would never let me go. I had to go. I could not bear the guilt of seeing him tomorrow morning, realizing that I left him there all night. All alone. Acting hastily and foolishly rather than acting like a coward made more sense.

There would be no harm in checking, right? I was going to check, then return home.

I dressed quickly and quietly, trying not to wake my mother. I put on my cloak and sneaked out of the house, my heart pounding in my chest like it was going to explode. The night was quiet and dark. The only sounds were the creaking of stones under my feet and the sound of an owl hooting somewhere far away.

He is going to die. Don't you agree?

As I walked down the path to the Ascula's cottage, I couldn't shake the feeling of unease that had settled in the pit of my stomach. The gloom of the night loomed all around me, watching me, making the trees that lined the path appear sinister and foreboding. Oh how much I loved these trees in the morning. I thought about leaving the path I always follow and walking through the forest to get to the cottage faster, but the darkness of the night terrified me. The moonlight offered a small comfort, casting its glow on the dirt path, giving me a glimpse of what lay ahead. Despite this, I was walking fast as if I was being chased by something I couldn't see. Even the slightest rustling of leaves or a snap of a twig made me jump.

As I ventured deeper into the forest, my anxiety only grew. I already regretted leaving the house. The villagers' warnings about the dangers of wild boars came to my mind, and at the same time, I heard a branch snapping from the depths of the forest to my right. I was frightened.

I quickened my steps, and kept walking, praying to the spirits above to protect me. The talismanic tattoo on my chest was still tingling and seemed to be getting worse. It scared me, but at the same time, the talisman's tingling made me somewhat at ease, making me feel protected by the dangers that surrounded me. I knew I had to press on. The young man's life, if he existed, was depending on me. And so, with every step, I pushed aside my terror, hoping to reach the healer's cottage before it was too late.

I prayed and prayed to the spirits in the sky that they would get me in time and make a fool of me. I prayed I would not see anyone when I arrived.

As I turned left by the little fountain and approached the cottage, I saw a shadowy figure lying on the ground.

My heart skipped a beat as immediately recognized the shadow from my dream, covered in blood.