http://www.geocities.com/arianadream/story.html
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Chapter 1: The Nightmare Realms
There it stood, off in the distance, partially obscured by the dank, dirty mist—a pillar of rock, reaching so high it seemed to pierce the sky. The pillar seemed naturally formed, and yet there appeared to be windows in it, doors and turrets…like a great tower. The mists crawled and crept through the valley, slinking around the bottom of the tower like something alive.
Standing some distance away, alone in the middle of the bare and rocky plain, Ariana shivered, rubbing her arms. She knew that it wasn’t any physical sense of cold that bothered her, however. This place was in the heart of the nightmare realms, and she knew who lived in that tower.
A tickling in her mind alerted her to a presence on her left, and she spun seconds before it pounced, blue and green dreamfire flaring in her hands. The huge, black wolf checked its attack, freezing where it stood, and stared at her hands. “Don’t even think about it,” Ariana warned. She sighed; she didn’t have time for this. The wolf cringed back at the sight of the dreamfire. With a flick of her wrists, Ariana sent the flames flaring out at the wolf, purposefully missing it by inches. Yelping, the creature dove back into the thin brush on her right and ran off into the mist.
Letting the dreamfire fade away again, Ariana shook her head. It was not the first time she had seen a shadow wolf. Last time she had been more vulnerable, however; here and now, even in the heart of the nightmare realms, any nightmare attacking her did not know what it was getting itself into.
Well, better get on with it. Shrugging to herself, Ariana began to walk forward, towards the misty tower.
The huge tower looked impossibly distant, at least several hours’ walk, but looks could be deceiving in this place. It was less than a quarter of an hour before Ariana found herself at the gates. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself—time for her first demonstration of her new power. She closed her eyes, and dreamfire flared all around her, brilliant sapphire and emerald light dancing and swirling as it dispelled the dark shadows, bringing light to a place that had not known light in millennia. When the light died away again, Ariana was nowhere to be seen. The only sign of her was a faint ripple of light, passing through the shadows like a reflection of a reflection. She stepped forward to the great gate, looming high above her head. It was intricately carved with fanciful sculptures and scenes. One might have stopped to admire the skill and artistry that had gone into it, until one saw that the drawings were not what they seemed. Young men and women romping through sunlit fields became terrified children running through the night, being chased by shadow wolves. Lovely faces suddenly appeared to be screaming in terror. Beautiful creatures became nightmares; graceful animals became ravenous monsters. Ariana did not look too closely at any of the carvings; everything in this place would be a trap or a lie. Reaching out to the heavy lock on the gate, Ariana closed her eyes again and drew on her power. Bolts snapped back, and the lock fell apart. Pulling on the handle, Ariana hauled the heavy door open, and then slipped through, as silent as a wraith.
The dank hallways and corridors were hewn out of rock; some might better be described as caverns and tunnels. Nightmares often roamed the halls, but no two were alike—some were great, hulking monsters, some small and furry, some no more than silent shadows, and some had the shape of lovely humans, tall and slender, but with a darkness glinting in their eyes. All the nightmares darted here and there, eyes and other senses reaching out ahead of them, but Ariana slipped on ahead, undetected.
There was a moment of peril as Ariana detected a soft cry. Spinning about, she peered into the shadows behind her; someone was there, someone human. It took all her strength to keep from going back to look. She knew, with the experience that came of guarding dreams for the last five years, that someone—a human from her world, or one close to it, like RavensDale—someone’s troubled, sleeping mind had brought them to the nightmare realms, and they were trapped in a terrifying dream of some sort. Yet there was nothing Ariana could do; nightmares occurred, and even she could not eradicate them all. Besides, anything she could do to ease that troubled soul would alert the entire tower to her presence, and her momentary advantage would be lost. Her current purpose was far too important to risk that. Shaking her head with a sigh, she moved on, wiping away a small, sympathetic tear as she walked silently down the hallway, her softly booted feet making no sound beyond the faintest whisk, whisk on the cold stone.
The hours slipped by, slowing to a crawl whenever Ariana felt she was getting somewhere. The tower must be the size of a city around the base—yet another way in which the laws of reality were twisted, both in the nightmare realms and the rest of the Dreamworld. Hour after hour passed, and Ariana’s feet ached, her back ached, and her head ached. Her eyes hurt from the strain of trying to pick out a path in the near-total darkness and gloom. Every time she felt she could go no farther, however, every time she was tempted to stop and rest, she reminded herself who was waiting for her, and of the appointment she had to keep. She might not get another chance.
Slowing to a stop in the middle of a large, empty room, hung with tattered tapestries that had once been lovely and finely-made—or appeared to be, anyway; likely nothing in this place had ever been beautiful—Ariana closed her eyes. There had to be a way to find what she was searching for. Reaching out with her senses, she drew on her dreamfire once more, feeling through the darkness with tendrils of magic. Aha…there it is. Couldn’t completely hide it from me, could you? Letting the magic die away again, Ariana opened her eyes and chose a doorway off to her left. Hurrying down the corridor, she finally reached the beginning of a huge, spiral staircase. With a determined set to her mouth and resolution flashing in her bright, blue-green eyes, she began to climb the cold, stone steps, trying not to see the mind-boggling height of the stairway that spun away above her, rising into infinite blackness.
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