Ylvahn

Ylvahn bent low and pressed her hand on the dry ground of her native land. Around her, the details of the red scenery were blurred but she didn't worry about it. She didn't question it.

Besides her, a great wulfkyër, roughly the size of a warhorse, sniffed, its shaggy pointy ears straightened and its tail whipping the air in anticipation.

It howled, and another wolf responded in kind, sounding far away behind them.

“Good job, Kibb,” said Ylvahn, petting the wolf’s flank. “We’ll see Larënnel soon. It will be a good vacation.”

Kibb’s dark fur was so long and thick that her small hand seemed to get swallowed by it.

Now the other shamans of her circle knew they were about to leave their territory.

Ylvahn veered to the north. The great city of Atgoren, where the Guardians of Aerinda dwell, normally laid ahead at the horizon, but she couldn’t make it out. This should’ve clued her in, but it didn’t.

The world suddenly grew somber. An eerie mist snaked around the grayed leafless trees and cloaked the melting snow. Kibb whined, but kept his stance firm.

A faint beat in the soil alerted Ylvahn that something was amiss. She closed her eyes, ignoring everything else and focused. She dug her fingers in the soil.

The heartbeat continued, and the more she felt it, the more it was erratic. As a gripping cold feeling wrapped around her guts, she knew something was deeply wrong with Aerinda.

Panicked, she gripped her chest. Her breath was short, rugged. She tried to scream, but her voice was muffled.

She woke up with a start.

The cloudless sky was bathing the world in a soft pink hue. The first sun was just peaking over the hills. Kibb was snoring gently, curled up against Ylvahn. He looked like a hefty ball of shaggy fur.

Ylvahn’s vision was clear, normal. This was reality.

Her anxiety heightened her senses. She should've known better. She should've checked if she was dreaming. She was trained as a dreamwalker, yet… her dream took hold of her. How was that possible?

When she dug her trembling fingers in the soil, she felt nothing.