“So, you want to do anything today or are you just going to be a hermit?” The coffee must still be stirring in his system.

“I’m going to be the hermit today, I’m honestly not feeling too well. By the way, do you have that ibuprofen?” He grabs a bag he left by his shoes. “Yep. I suppose I’ll get going then. You get better now.” We say our goodbyes and he heads out the door.

I take the opportunity to put on some pajamas and take a few ibprofen to calm my still-throbbing head. I decided to place the book in my closet until I can figure out what to do with it tomorrow, until then, I collapsed on my bed and slowly drifted to sleep.

I wake up in a forest where I saw crystalline butterflies flying close to my face with the sun shining down; showing rays within the leaves and branches of the trees. I realize I’m sitting on the ground with a circle of flowers around me. It reminded me of one of those fairy circles where I think they were meant for protection or for prayer.

I can’t remember how I got here, or where I was to begin. I got up and started walking to the view of a worn path a few feet away. As I walked, all the trees were a very bright green, almost as if it were in the Springtime. It was always my favorite time of year. I started reminiscing on a tree I would always come to and talk with my imaginary friend when I was young. No matter how I entered the forest I would always find my way to my special tree. I even etched my name into it to make sure to state it was my tree as it was the biggest and tallest of them all. I chuckled at the thought because it was so long ago.

After walking for what seemed like another hour or two, I came across a clearing where there were a couple trees visible with birds and insects flying about within the sun. There was a tree that was very familiar among the cluster here and as I got closer to its trunk, I stopped in my tracks as I see my name etched within its bark. Just like I had done years ago. As I try to convince myself this has to be some sort of coincidence, I hear what sounds like footsteps coming up from behind me. I freeze in place, terrified as to who, or what it was approaching me. That is, until I hear its voice.

“I thought it was you.” It was a deep male voice that sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place where I had heard this voice before. I wasn’t scared at the fact that there was someone behind me, but it was the fact of why they were here. I muster the courage to turn to face this individual and my mind goes blank. Standing in front of me is a person that looks to be a knight in black and silver armor. This being had bright yellow eyes that I swear could have come from the sun. He then unfurled what looked like black, angelic wings from his back and spoke again.

“I’m surprised you don’t remember me, Amy.”

“How do you know my name?” I say in a bit of a shaky voice.

“We often came here when you were young.” He says as he continues to approach me. “I don’t know how you managed to come here last time but much has changed since you have been gone.”

“I don’t understand.” My head is reeling with what is going on, but then it dawns on me. Black and silver armor, eyes like the sun, wings like an angel, it just couldn’t be. “Shadow?” I ask in a shaky voice, almost in disbelief.

“Now you’re starting to remember.” My brain stopped working, this couldn’t be the Shadow. The same Shadow that I created as an imaginary friend when I was a child, was now standing in front of me, as real as he could be. As he is now inches away from me, I reach out to touch him, yet he backs away.

“You shouldn’t.”

“You don’t scare me.” He shakes his head.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” He takes out his sword and points it towards the city I had seen once before. There was definitely something different about it, it was darker, more ominous in its presence. “Ever since that came,” He explained. “This whole world has been different. There have been more beings starting fires and causing chaos, animals and creatures of all statures don’t even dare go anywhere near the place.” He hangs his head. “If that place is not dealt with soon, all this will be nothing but a forgotten memory.”

That statement tugged at my heart. This place was so familiar that it had to be my sanctuary, the place that I created from my imagination. I never thought creating all of this would actually make it real. Sure enough, I was living in it. This danger Shadow was talking about felt all too real.

“If this danger isn’t dealt with, then that means this world is in danger. Can this city actually cause all of this, or is it just housing a being behind all this?” Shadow walks over to the tree and speaks.

“I have only made the journey to the city once. The moment I came within a few feet of its walls, I saw a person on the tallest level of the castle tower. He was casting some kind of spell.” He touches the bark of the tree, his hand close to my name. “Next thing I knew, I was struck by such a dark force, I was hurled from the air, and landed within the branches of this tree.” He then looked up as if remembering that day. “The branches oddly never gave way. I know I would have suffered great injuries if I had hit the ground full force.”

I’m just staring at him at this point, just trying to wrap my head around all of this. “I don’t know what I can do.” I begin and he turns at the sound of my voice. “But … I want to help.”

He walks towards me, then points the tip of his sword at my forehead, making a slight scratch. “I was hoping you would say that.” He then speaks what I can only assume as an incantation and my body began to sink, as if the ground had given way. “I promise, I’ll find you again.” Before I can say anything, I plunge into the darkened abyss.

I jolt awake from my slumber, sweating profusely and panting as if I couldn’t catch my breath.

“God, what a dream!” I get out of bed and see that it’s completely dark out, but there’s a light illuminating my room. I end up finding the source and it’s coming from the book in my closet. I don’t know what possessed me to pick it up, but I did, and opened it to look at the pages. Towards the beginning, 5 to 6 pages actually now had ink pictures and words, almost like I was looking at a graphic novel. As I skimmed over the pages, I saw myself and that black and silver knight. The very words we discussed were here. Everything that had happened was here! This just didn’t make any sense.

I closed the book and looked at the cover. Nothing had changed about it, it was still the leather-bound, intricate-detail book it was. Whatever was happening, I had a feeling this wasn’t going to be the end of it. That this encounter was not going to be my last.