Last night’s dream was so low key and verbally boring that even though I remember it, I forgot to write it up. Even AFTER the anon’s question about Ravenwoman.
Short version: It’s a simple tale. My ass got jacked. Sensory deprived and restrained for the entire night, I was released as the process of Waking up started. The end.
Long version: I went to the Shambling’s campfire. Even after what happened the last time. I really, really, want to visit the Svartalf, and am making it my Number One Priority now. If for nothing else than it seems the universe is conspiring to prevent me from visiting him. (Note to self: Throw down some tarot about that.)
I don’t have a “key” to the front door of his caves anymore, but I do have access to a “back door” that he set up in the Forest of Shadows. I still have to knock, but hey, I can at least do that.
What I can’t do, is jump directly to the boulder that acts as the gate to his realm. So I jump to the Shambling’s cold campfire and begin to trudge the odd mile from camp to rock.
I’m out of eyesight of the cold campfire. Almost out of earshot as well. I would have to yell quite loudly for anyone at the campfire to hear me. There are also no Shamblings between the campfire and the boulder. I’m alone and press on.
I can start to see the massive granite rock in between the trees. I’m going deeper into the Forest of Shadows, but this area has none of the predators. The trees are normal here. Well, by normal I mean they aren’t ambulatory and don’t predate on anything. They’re dead for one, and petrified for another. I’ve never really explored this section of the Forest of Shadows. I have no idea why there is a petrified stand of trees here. But this is where the Svartalf has his “back door”, and I’ve never had any problems once entering the petrified portion, so I continue on without concern.
A few more steps and I’ll be in the small clearing where the boulder sits. I place my hand on the last tree for support as I step over a protruding root.
Something snatches me from behind and covers my face completely. I see the image of a large gloved hand before I am blinded. Something else covers my mouth and nose with a bitter scent. I am easily picked up off the ground. I try to struggle and call my defensive fire but something fills my mouth with a waxy taste and I quickly pass out.
Muffled noises. My arms are restrained behind me and I’m laying on my side on something hard. My face is covered. My mouth is gagged. I’m groggy as fuck and trying to get my bearings. I know I should remain still but I move my legs involuntarily. My ankles are bound.
“No. Not yet.” The voice is deep and masculine. He didn’t speak English. I didn’t recognize the language but I could understand him somehow. My hearing was still affected, making him sound like he was speaking at the bottom of a well.
Since he knows I’m (somewhat) aware, I try to break the bonds off me. A hand presses my face over the blinding cloth. His touch is gentle. His magic is not. I feel like someone had slammed my head into hard concrete. I jerk in sudden surprise then succumb to numbing darkness.
I’m laying on my back on something a little softer than the ground. Could be a bed or a cloth covered cot. I’m groggy and my body feels leaden and unresponsive. My hands are to my side, but pulled away from my body slightly. I can feel the restraints on my hands and my feet. My face is covered by a thin cloth. I can see light and shadow through it, but not enough to know what’s going on. I move my head slowly to try and dislodge the cloth without giving away I’m aware.
“Again?” A woman’s voice, so distorted she sounded male at first.
“Don’t you mean, only twice so far?” The first voice I heard before. Was that a hint of humor I heard? A sound of splashing liquid. A swish of cloth.
“That’s too much. She’ll never wake up.”
“If I could [unintelligible] her, I would. But I am not allowed. She adapts to magic faster than you think. This will hold her just fine.”
“Why is this necessary? She’s just a human. What could she do to us?”
He chuckles. “You’ve never encountered her fully awake. I don’t think she’ll be receptive to any explanation we could give. We can not risk her gaining any hold on awareness in here.” Footsteps. A heavy cloth is placed over the thin cloth covering my face. The waxy and bitter scent smothers me.
I try to remember how I dropped the need for breathing during the struggle with the Shamblings. But I am not fast enough. The scent presses on my face and chest, pushing me back into unknowing darkness.
There is dry ground under me. I see the Svartalf’s boulder a few trees away. I roll over and find the ground around me has been swept clear of footprints. My wrists, ankles, and chest are sore. My head throbs from what I recognize to be a sedative hangover. I haven’t taken any sedatives, in either world, for months now. This isn’t my doing.
I look up at the trees in askance, but they are petrified. Dead. Unknowing. A check of myself shows nothing has been taken from me. Nothing added. A check of the time tells me I will be waking up soon. Not enough time to even knock on the Svartalf’s boulder.
I was kidnapped and restrained all night, just to keep me away from him.
The next time I enter the Dreaming, I will see my friend. And nothing in the Nine Worlds will keep me from him.
May Hel have mercy on those that get in my way.