Ripping through the trees at speeds not seen before I feared not only for myself but for all men. I was crouched low, for twilight made the branches hard to see as we shot under them with critical precision.
My mount responded to the fierce jerks of the reins with undying commitment. His movements were deliberate as he negotiated every turn with the desperation of prey evading predator. I was asking him to stretch his abilities like never before.
The air, now heavy with chill, was surely singeing his lungs for I too felt the burn that only the night air could deliver.
We pushed on, descending deeper into a thicket the likes of which most have never seen. All the while I could hear them howling, riciting the hymn of the damned; calling to the woods to seal off our deliverance.
My skin, frayed on their decree and dampened with blood, saw no relief from the slap of passing foliage that was draped in autumn dew. It seemed mother nature's scolding hand was answering their call and would be the one thing tonight we would not escape. Yet one misstep in these unforgiving lands and she would not be the only one feasting on chilled flesh, for they, were many.
Continuing on and putting what I'd hope to be a safer distance between us and those that would ravage, I listened. The ice like shrills that had pierced the night were now softened, muffled by the brush. As I began to feel, for the first time, an inspiring level of calm I was cautious. Falling victim to false hope here would prove costly, for wickedness knows no boundaries.
The night, now fully upon us, showed me a color from which I thought only one shade existed. We were being asked to progress through a darkness so void of light it grew heavy.
Sunddenly the continuance of time was severed and left for dead as an agonizing sound from above fell upon us with such vigor it shook the very ground. A deafening outcry that appeared to be resonating from heaven itself.
Just as I yanked heavily on the reins bringing us to an abrupt halt, the sound did the same. What, if on earth, could have produced such bedlam? My mind was racing to search for clarity as it hit again with a blast equal to that of the first.
This time, without momentum behind us to cut the sound, I was forced to throw my hands to my head in hopes of minimizing the effects of the resounding torture. The pain burrowed down through my head so thick it was as if it was trying to erase my every thought.
Don't stop! Don't stop! That message, once my law of the night, was now coming in fragments of confusion. The blackness we had lived, just a short time ago, was now becoming gray with distraction. Had to block it out! That was the only clear thought I could summons and with that, just like it had done before, the sound vanished.
What was it? What was I doing there? Feeling unsure of many things, including my own identity, I began trying to wipe the blur from my eyes. This in hopes of recapturing the knowledge that was being blown from my head with each pulse of the intolerable blast.
Hoping maybe we had heard the last of the beast from above it hit again! This time with unparalleled clarity that tore through my brain like a woodsman's knife up the belly of his kill. Louder than that of the two before it, this blast took on a high pitched shriek and it induced a rapid blink that only worsened the haze from which I was forced to peer.
I was now beginning to feel pain in my lower back and legs as the sound blanketed my entire body. It was strikingly clear though that pain was stronger on my right side.
As the piercing began its third retreat I noticed I was lying flat looking up into an unfamiliar setting. I suddenly felt the need to raise my head to scan my surroundings. I was sure this had to be done before the next blast could restrict my movements. In doing this I was startled to find a figure lying to my left.
With understanding now trickling in I shot my head back to the right and was frightened for a split second as I was greeted with my own disheveled presence peering back at me from the dresser mirror. Huh?
You've got to be kidding me! A DREAM?!?! Come on, I have questions! Where was I? Who was I? What were those that we were running from? What had happened leading up to our escape?
Oy Vey! Ruined yet again, stripped of another great ending to another fantastic tale! Wow, there is nothing I hate more than being robbed of the finishing touches to a great fantasy!
Beep! Beep! Beep! Blasted into my ear from the alarm clock on the night stand to my right. SILENCED into snoozery as I pounded it with closed fist! Just once, seriously, just once I would love to be able to finish a dream that actually has a story line! The ones I usually get to finish are the really obscure ones like Spongebob residing over the case of Joe Montana vs. the Fly; a tale of Kermit's shipment of lettuce that grow earthworms with pretty colors. No kidding, my dreams are usually way whacked.
Anyway, here is to hoping someday soon I'll get to complete a true tale of a dream.
These events are of a true nature, names were hidden and the event's whereabouts stricken to protect the Innocent. These events also occurred mysteriously on the night of this Tuesday past, the 25th day of August in the 2009th year of our lord. (A little medieval humor)
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