I cowered in the cave below, I yelped as someone grabbed me, covering my mouth. “Of all the elves to survive! A half-breed.” He hissed

“I distracted them from your trail thank you very much!” 

“Have you figured out what they want with me?! I know you can dream of the future.” He grabbed my shoulders. 

His voice was angry but I heard a tremor of fear as well.

“I think I do…. It isn’t exactly clear. But the elders of the human kingdom want answers about something.”

“Oh no…”

“I-is it about him? T-t-the dragon?” I couldn’t help the stuttering. “But he’s dead…my mom…” 

“I know that! It’s not about the dragon… the Phoenix.”

“As in the blue Phoenix? I thought they were gone.”

“Some believe they are going to reawaken.”

“So that’s why I see the blue fire in my dreams…”

“You what?” 

“So you know about the legend?” The deeper voice from earlier spoke. 

“Yes…” the elf king said, he stepped up to the human king. “I won’t fight you.” 

“No!” I yelled.

“It’s alright kid, he’s not going to kill me until I give him information.”

The knights accompanying the king drew their swords., “Step forward into the light.” The king said

I obeyed, bracing myself for an attack. The guard's footsteps told me they were all around me now. I have to say at this moment I completely forgot how to use magic. I whimpered, and a dumb idea came into my mind

“Wait! I can see the future! Maybe I can help you!”

“Shut up stupid half-breed!” The elf king shouted.

“I’m telling the truth! I-I can! I dreamed about this! A-and how Your son tried to stop it from happening!” Silence. 

“Swords down.” The king ordered. 

The elven king lunged at me. Wrapping his hand around my neck, “Tell me about the blue fire!! I knew you were a monster from the beginning!” He hissed. 

All I could reply was gasps of air. 

“Enough!” The other king's voice seemed to be vibrating. Or maybe I was just losing consciousness. 

He let go, I fell to the ground coughing.

The human king helped me up. “Take him to the cage! Bind their hands!”

I could feel a bruise forming around my neck.

“That was a first.” My breathing was shaky.

“What’s your name?”

“Jack. Thank you for saving me, sire.”

“You’re welcome. Don’t worry you won’t be used for your dreams.”

“That’s a relief, they are useful but most of the time in scattered pieces. I believe it has something to do with my sight… I can only see in dreams.”

He led me to the tents, he cut the ropes. 

“You can bunk with me for now, I’m not sure the boys want to share their tent.”

“I understand.” I smiled. “Sir…”

“Elves have a way of strangling the life out of you if you’re different… I figured you’d have a better chance with us. Why you? Well, I would like to have both sides of the world in my kingdom…that’s between us though alright?”

“I always thought either side wanted to stay the same.” 

“Most of them do…”

“Can I ask why you took out the whole group”

“That’s classified.”

“I-I’m sorry… I’m used to figuring things out on my own… well with my friends too.”

“You told them about us?” He asked.

I nodded. 

“Did they make it?”

I wasn’t sure if I should answer or not. The king seemed to read my expression. 

“It’s okay, your friends will remain safe.”

“T-thank you sire.”

“Dinner will be ready soon, get some rest.”

***

I was about 5 or 6 sitting by the window. “Jack, he’ll be home soon, come help me in the kitchen.”

“Okay.” I sighed. “Oo! Are we making Dad's favorite?!”

“Yeah!”

“Yaay!”

“Come on silly boy.” 

A few hours later the door opened. “Dad!” 

“Jack! Wait! You have to get cleaned up first.”

“Hey! What have you been doing?! You’ve got flour  in your hair!” He picked me up

“Sorry, we were baking. Welcome home, honey. Come on Jack let’s go get cleaned up.” 

(If you hate dream sequences you might as well stop here. This happens a lot. Believe me, I don’t want to dream all the time either!)

***

“Jack,” someone shook me, I gasped awake.

“Sorry, you slept through dinner so I brought you a bowl.”

“I did? W-was the king mad?” I took the bowl, the smell of it was familiar. Another one of my memories of Mom popped into my head.

“No, he knew you were probably exhausted. It’s deer stew by the way… uh, do you eat meat? Sorry I guess I should’ve asked before.”

“They didn’t, but I do.” I took a bite, I forgot how long it had been since I last ate. I quickly gobbled it down. 

“Good right?! Our cook is the best!”

“Mhm!” All the good memories of my mom and grandma flooded my mind. Tears rolled down my face, which turned into sobs.

“Uh…” Rais put his hand on my shoulder. “I-I’m sorry. I'm not good at this. 

We just sat there for a while in silence. It was nice having someone there, not getting scolded for crying.

“T-thanks,” I sniffed.

“Goodnight Jack,”

“G-goodnight”