The busier night streets of the Imperial City were a stark contrast to the slums she was used to creeping through. Her masked, hooded face drew more attention than she wanted, and every now and then, it felt as if she were being followed. Sticking to the darker corners of the road, Ani looked for the tavern where Rafe would be waiting for her.
Her eyes were searching the brightly-lit shops when her spine tingled. There it was again — the unnatural sense of being watched. Ani cautiously turned her head, looking to see if any of the bodies on the street seemed out of place.
A couple walking down the street with their arms linked together, two men laughing with a girl on each arm, a noble followed by a servant carrying several bags of goods — nothing particularly unusual stood out. Yet, the feeling remained. She tightened her hold on the dagger in her pockets and quickened her steps.
“Dreamer.”
Helene stopped short. The whisper had come so quickly and quietly, she wasn’t sure if she heard right. Swiveling her head around, she searched for the source, but she couldn’t identify it.
She internally cursed, jerking back around and suppressing the urge to run. Running would not help with her discretion. When her impatience won out, she approached a man smoking a cigar by a shop window.
“Pardon me, sir. Do you know where I can find the Hollow?”
He flicked her an irritated glance. “It’s down two more blocks and on the left. Look for the black sign with gold.”
“Thank you,” she rushed out in appreciation, moving swiftly to leave.
The man grasped her arm, preventing her from going just yet. “What’s with the mask, girl?”
Ani looked down at his hold on her, contemplating if she should just sock him in the face and go along her way. Luckily for him, she decided the trouble wasn’t worth it. “I’ve got a bad cough. You don’t want to be near me right now.”
He scoffed, blowing smoke into her eyes. “What are you? One of those crazy Dreamers?”
Her interest piqued. From what she gathered, people were aware of them, but never mentioned the name outright. The man had guts or he was a fool. “What are Dreamers?” she feigned ignorance.
Letting her go, he puffed out another smoky laugh. “Trust me, you don’t want to know. Be careful tonight. There’s something evil in the air.” With that, he crushed the dying butt of his cigar into the ground and walked away.
Strange. Everything about this night was strange. Shaking her head, she headed in the direction of the tavern and promptly passed the closing stores in a blur. Unconsciously, her pace increased, and before she knew it, she was running. She was eager to arrive.
“Do you dream of a world ruled by magic?” The whisper skimmed past her again.
Ani stumbled, reaching out towards the wall to steady herself, but instead of brick, she came into contact with skin. Her throat choking on her own breaths, she slowly looked up.
A lanky woman with a metallic mask over her eyes looked down at her with a sly smile. “Hello, there.”
Yanking her hand away, Ani straightened, slowly stepping away from the hooded, eerie woman. “Who are you?”
She exhaled in amusement. “We should be asking you that.”
We?
The lights on the street extinguished, a sinister silence overcame the darkness, and bodies emerged from the shadows. Her heart stopped. This was an ambush.
Ani drew her dagger.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a hoarse voice behind her cautioned.
That was the only warning she got before the bodies jumped on her.
Throwing a drink back, Rafe looked at the door again.
“Stopping ogling the door,” Edward muttered, carving an apple with his knife.
“I’m not ogling,” he grumbled, stealing a slice away from him.
Settled in a private corner of the room with a view of the entrance and spacious expanse, Rafe claimed a table with Edward and two other comrades. All hooded and masked in dark cloth, they surveyed the leisure tavern. Only lit by a few sparse candles and occupied by patrons who minded their own business, The Hollow was discreet, yet public enough to meet with their masked enigma he now knew as Ani. Especially with the onslaught of Dreamers they had encountered before, dark, hidden crevices were no longer safe enough to meet.
“Why are we so sure this ‘Ani’ is even going to show?” Landon, one of his guards from the Palace, asked quietly as he fidgeted with the mask over his mouth.
“She’ll show,” Rafe uttered, savoring the tart juice of the fruit. “She needs answers as much as we do.”
Callen, an Earl of the Empire, shook his head. “I still don’t believe it,” he whispered. “Magic flames and ghosts in the air seem more like a hallucination you would have in the heat of the moment.”
Rafe narrowed his eyes, though they wouldn’t have been able to see it with his banded mask. “I know what I saw. She made something happen.”
“Something magic?” Edward persisted with a raised brow.
“We’re not going through this again,” he murmured in annoyance.
He knew how utterly absurd it sounded, but even now, he couldn’t forget the image. Ani lunging towards the Dreamer with a feral glint in her eyes, then, all at once, flames everywhere and Dreamers falling. He had felt the energy. It raised the hairs on his arms remembering the pure force of it.
Gnawing on the inner flesh of his cheek, he was impatient to see her again. Landon had spent days on the streets, listening for movements from the Dreamers. They were well hidden, but Rafe had an inkling they were closer to the city than anyone would suspect. In fact, the whole thing could be run by treasonous nobles.
A piercing shriek splintered his train of thought. Jolting up, Rafe looked around.
“What is it?” Edward whispered in concern.
“You didn’t hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“A scream,” he frowned, a menacing thread of unease trickling down his spine. “Something’s wrong.”
Abruptly standing, Rafe ran through the exit, whipping his eyes across the darkening street.
“ACHHHHHHHH.”
His heart galloped ferociously. Blindly running towards the scream, he ignored the protests from his comrades, who raced after him in worry. It was as if an invisible thread was leading him through the streets of the city. The closer he got to the sound, the colder and darker his surroundings became. Just as he turned the corner, he saw what he had feared.
In the arms of a hooded, masked man and surrounded by five other figures, he saw Ani’s lifeless body being carried away. Panic engulfed him. He sprinted.
“ANI,” he roared, whisking his knife out and chasing harder after her despite the agony in his throbbing gash.
He saw the figures look back. When Ani didn’t budge at his voice, true fear for her life strangled his chest. He would not let them take her away. He was close now. Just a few more steps until —
Gone.
They were gone.
Reaching the spot he swore they had just been in, only air and the wind were found.
No. This couldn’t be. They couldn’t just disappear.
“Ani,” he heaved out, his lungs scorched.
No answer. She was gone. Just like that. Reaching out into the night, remorse tackled his conscience.
“Hello, there.” A whisper. Something sharp stabbed into his neck. Cold liquid plunged into his veins.
Darkness overcame him as he fell to the ground.
Ani opened her eyes, yet she couldn’t see anything. Her first instinct was to greet the abyss, but her wrists were bound in chains and she was seated on cold, wet cobblestones. Squeezing her eyes tight, she tried to recall how she ended up like this. What had happened?
The memories came back with a vengeance. She was attacked, sedated, and now trapped in a darkness she feared always followed her around. Scrambling in panic, she used her chained hands to feel her surroundings. Her hands came in contact with rusted bars and the sound of rushing water trickled nearby.
They imprisoned her in a lightless cage. Perhaps by a river.
She needed to escape, but without being able to see anything, her chances were futile. Ani reached up to her throat, using her trembling hands to grasp for the stone necklace. But her neck was empty. It was gone.
“No,” she gasped, scratching at her skin. “No, no, no, no.”
Now, all hope was lost.
After her dream in the abyss and the stone’s imprint burned into her chest, she had thrown the necklace into a drawer. But just before sneaking out of the Palace, she had fastened it around her again. Almost like a lifeline. Her mother had given it to her for protection, and in the Dreamer’s cave, that phantom force was too familiar to the hands and lips that touched her in the abyss.
But, they took it from her.
Who was it that stole her away? Where was she? What would be her fate? Ani’s mind raced with questions that only heightened her anxiety and the crushing sense of being helpless.
A pained groan sounded in the dark.
Her heart skipped a beat. “Who’s there?”
“Ani?” a familiar voice called in relief.
Rafe.
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